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Mumbai-Nagpur E-Way: Speed limit capped to avoid fatal accidents

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has said that the speed limit for vehicles plying on the proposed 700-km-long Mumbai Nagpur Expressway will be 120-kmph despite the Expressway being designed for 150-kmph. The MSRDC has cited that chances of fatal accidents are higher if the speed limit is kept at 150-KMPH.

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The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has said that the speed limit for vehicles plying on the proposed 700-km-long Mumbai Nagpur Expressway will be 120-kmph despite the Expressway being designed for 150-kmph. The MSRDC has cited that chances of fatal accidents are higher if the speed limit is kept at 150-KMPH.

The MSRDC officials also feel that not all vehicles in India are safe to be driven at a speed of 150-KMPH."We had appointed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Powai to study the design speed of the Mumbai Nagpur Expressway and they have given the go-ahead to have the design speed of 150-KMPH. However, it will not be safe to allow vehicles ply at that speed and hence we are going to have the speed limit of 120-KMPH."

The MSRDC official, added, "There are many factors as to why speed limit should be lesser than what the design of a particular road is. We have to consider those who tend to over-speed and a certain buffer has to be kept, anticipating over-speeding vehicles to avoid fatal accidents."

Currently, the speed limit on Mumbai Pune Expressway is 80-kmph followed by 100-KMPH on Delhi-Agra Yamuna Expressway and 120-KMPH on Lucknow-Agra Expressway. However, the Yamuna Expressway Development Authority (YEIDA) had reduced the speed limit on Yamuna Expressway from 100-KMPH to 60-KMPH in November 2017 due to foggy weather for a temporary period.

"We had shot down a proposal of increasing the speed limit of Mumbai Pune Expressway from 80 to 100-KMPH but already there are thousands of accidents taking place on the Expressway and increasing the speed limit gives a wrong message at times for those who ten to speed," added the MSRDC official.

A study in 2016 on the Mumbai Pune Expressway had also revealed about how 99 per cent of the vehicles that play on the Expressway over speed. Around 50,000 thousand vehicles daily ply on the Expressway.

The 700-km-long Mumbai Nagpur Expressway is touted to be one of the longest Expressway in South Asia and will have six lanes with an additional two service roads on each side. The entire Expressway is expected to bring down the travel time to 10 hours from the current 17-18 hours.

The Rs 46,000 crore project will need around 10,000 hectares of land between Bhiwandi and Nagpur for construction of the Expressway. The state government also plans to have smart townships to be constructed on the Expressway for which another 10,000 hectares will be required. 

Kiran Kurundkar, Joint Managing Director, MSRDC told DNA, "We have currently acquired 60 per cent of the total land required for the construction of Expressway and are in process of acquiring further. Many of the land owners are opting for direct purchase scheme instead of going for land pooling scheme but both options are open for those who are willingly approaching us for giving their land."

The MSRDC is offering five times double the rate of the prevailing ready reckoner rate for those who are offering their land willingly and is also known as direct purchase scheme. Another option for those willing go for land pooling is where land owners are given a certain per cent of the land developed after 10 years in the new smart townships that is planned on the Expressway. Construction work on the Expressway is expected to start by end of 2018.

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