1,282 accidents, 135 deaths in 9 months: Spotlight back on Samruddhi Mahamarg

A total of 1,282 accidents have taken place on the expressway since December 2022, of which accidents involving 67 vehicles during this period have resulted in 135 deaths.

In the nine months since Samruddhi Mahamarg opened to traffic, nearly 48 lakh vehicles have plied on a 600-km stretch from Nagpur to Bharvir in Igatpuri. The total highway covers a distance of 701 km.

Two major accidents caused 37 of these deaths. In one accident, a private AC sleeper bus caught fire after the drunk driver lost control in July, while on October 15, 12 people died and 23 others were injured, said Anil Gaikwad, MD of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

In the accident that took place on Sunday, prima facie, Gaikwad said, it appears that the mini bus — a Tempo Traveller — rammed the truck from behind. The official said the entry point of both the vehicles involved in the accident that is recorded in the system will help understand circumstances of the accident and determine the speed at which the vehicles were moving then. Adding that the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and Highway police will determine the exact cause of the accident, the official ruled out any engineering fault as the cause of the accident.

The official said the number of accidents on Samruddhi Mahamarg is fewer compared to other state highways. The expressway has no engineering defects, he added, in fact it is one the highways built with international road safety qualities.

Although Samruddhi Mahamarg has 150 km of road speed design to enforce speed limit, to improve safety for vehicles, siren sounds are made at exit tolls and penalties are imposed for speeding violations. Colorful flags are placed every 10 km to prevent highway hypnosis, and rumbler strips at every 25 km provide a vibrating noise to prevent drowsiness, Gaikwad said, on the directions of Regional Transport Office (RTO).

The remaining 101-km stretch of Samruddhi Mahamarg that connects to Mumbai is under construction, with approximately 80 km completed.

This stretch is complex and runs on challenging terrain with mountains and lakes, including 16 viaducts and six tunnels. As per the MSRDC, this 101-km stretch is expected to be open by May 2024.

MSRDC is also expanding Mumbai-Nashik highway (NH 3) between Vadpe and Majiwada in Thane to eight lanes, with the aim to improve traffic flow, particularly for high traffic from warehouses in Bhiwandi.

Samruddhi Mahamarg, officially known as Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is a 701-km stretch connecting Mumbai and Nagpur. It is the country’s second longest expressway and, when fully operational, is expected to reduce the travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai to eight hours from 16. A total of 600 km of the stretch has been opened for public use in two phases. The first phase of 520 km, between Nagpur and Shirdi, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022, while the second phase, between Shirdi and Bharvir, was inaugurated in May by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Now, the stretch between Bharvir in Igatpuri and Mumbai remains to be completed.

Recent accidents

Here’s a look at the major accidents that took place on the expressway over the past few months:

On July 1 this year, 26 people died after a private AC sleeper bus travelling from Nagpur to Pune caught fire after it rammed a steel pole and road divider, damaging its diesel tank.

On June 11, four people died while four others were seriously injured after their Innova car met with an accident on the Ghoti-Shirdi stretch at midnight. The driver allegedly lost control of the SUV that rammed a wall.

On June 10, three members of a family, including two women, died and one person was injured at Chandajhira near Jalna on the expressway, when their car was hit by a container truck. The family was returning to Nagpur from Ahmednagar.

On June 3, three people, including a child, were killed and a few others injured after their car turned turtle on the Dushingpur Shivar stretch of the Samruddhi Expressway.

On May 29, three people were killed after a car rammed a road divider and caught fire in Buldhana. One person was flung out of the vehicle and died of serious injuries, while two others got trapped in the car and were charred to death.

On May 24, four members of two families from Surat died, while another member sustained injuries, when their car met with an accident on the Jaipur-Siwar patch in rural Aurangabad early morning. Preliminary probe indicated highway hypnosis as the cause.

On August 1 this year, 20 workers, including engineers and supervisors, were crushed to death and three others injured after a crane collapsed on a bridge slab during the construction of the third phase of the expressway in Thane district.