A month gone, E-way still awaits those 'safety' ropes

The ambitious plan of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to make the Mumbai-Pune Expressway safer is yet to see the light of the day.

In order to curb the rising number of mishaps on the expressway, MSRDC was directed to install Brifen rope barriers on the medians. However, the MSRDC is yet to get the delivery of the materials from Germany.

Chief engineer of MSRDC Arun Deodhar said, “The material for Brifen rope has to be imported from Germany. However, we haven't yet got the delivery and hence the work has been delayed. We are hoping to get the delivery of materials in the next few days following which the work of installation of barricades will be done in two to three weeks.”

The work of installation of these barriers was supposed to start from February.

The measures to make expressway safe were beefed up after the accident near Urse toll plaza on December 24 in which two Marathi actors — Anand Abhyankar and Akshay Pendse — lost their lives. A tempo that was heading towards Pune, lost control, went on the opposite lane and hit the vehicle they were travelling in. A few days after that accident another took place in a similar fashion in which senior officer of Atlas Copco Company, VP Gopal, lost his life.

After the series of accidents, state home minister RR Patil had visited the spots on the expressway twice and directed the MSRDC officials to erect barricades in the medians.

The Brifen rope barriers were supposed to be installed in the three-kilometre stretch from Kamshet tunnel towards Pune. These barriers will not only be useful in preventing vehicles from going on to the opposite lane, but will also cause minimum damage to the vehicles as they are flexible compared to hard metal barriers.

@journoanurag