73 major accidents in one year on Nagpur-Mumbai Samriddhi Expressway, 142 people lost their lives
Nagpur: Maharashtra PWD minister Dada Bhuse told the state Legislative Council here on Friday that 142 people have died in accidents since the inauguration of the first phase of the Nagpur-Mumbai Samriddhi Expressway a year ago. He was responding to a calling attention motion regarding the high frequency of accidents on the expressway. The first 520 km long phase of the road connecting Nagpur and Shirdi was opened to traffic in December 2022.
The minister told the House that at least 73 major accidents took place on the expressway since its inauguration and 142 people died. Bhuse said, so far around 66 lakh vehicles have been on the road. He said 70 per cent of the barrier construction work on both sides has been completed and 16 “station points” with facilities including petrol pumps, eateries and toilets will be built in the next four months.
On October 14, 12 people were killed in an accident on the road. Earlier, on July 1, 25 passengers were burnt to death when a private sleeper bus caught fire after it hit a divider. The calling attention motion was moved by opposition leaders Ambadas Danve, Amol Mitkari, Aniket Tatkare, Satish Chavan and Vikram Kale.
