It is heartening to learn that basic facilities, such as toilets, petrol pumps, and food malls, will soon be available along the Samruddhi Mahamarg. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation to appoint consultants to set up these basic facilities along the route.

This should stem commuter criticism about the lack of these on the expressway. These are not luxuries or frills but necessities, one could term them, to prevent driver fatigue and accidents. Fadnavis rightly suggested that while constructing any road in the future, an “ecosystem” should be developed in the area.