The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has decided to develop wayside amenities concurrently with the construction of new highways. An official said that following the development of wayside amenities, they can hire a contractor for operation. The decision has been taken after the corporation was criticised over opening of Samruddhi Mahamarg without providing wayside amenities which include food plazas, refreshment centres, petrol pumps, mechanical service etc. Of the 701 km long Samruddhi Mahamarg, 600 km of which has been opened to traffic partially from Nagpur to Bharvir, has been witnessing a spate of accidents including the recently reported Private AC Sleeper bus accident in which 26 people were charred to death, bringing the issue of accidents back into the forefront. On this entire stretch, no wayside amenities have been available, as reported by the Indian Express earlier. As per the MSRDC official findings, highway hypnosis is one of the major reasons for accidents at Samruddhi Mahamarg. Highway hypnosis occurs when people drive large distances on empty highways which induces feelings like sleeping with open eyes. Therefore to break the driving monotony, wayside amenities greatly help. Now, after calling for tenders a few times for the development of wayside amenities along the corridor, MSRDC is once again looking for a common bidder which can develop, operate and maintain wayside amenities at 16 identified locations.
