The state government seems to be dragging its feet over making Mumbai-Pune Expressway safe. Despite research being done years ago to make the 94km-long highway safe, it still has no set timeline to implement the recommended measures.
Two days after the accident on the Expressway near Shedung, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) officials on Tuesday had a meeting on safety measures that can be taken on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
During the meeting, various safety measures were discussed, but implementation will surely not happen soon.
Sources privy to the happenings of the meeting shared that projects of having a Trauma Care Centre and Air Ambulance at Ozarde, Intelligent Traffic Monitoring System, Brifen Wire Rope on the entire Expressway, setting up of 100 man Special Task Force among other things were discussed.
What is interesting is that the corporation has done research and also has infrastructure in place to immediately commence certain projects. Still, there is need for more 'Detailed Project Reports' by appointing some consultants.
For example, back in 2013 the MSRDC, through Department of Science and Technology, had designed an application to curb accidents on the Expressway, especially due to over speeding and reckless driving by motorists. This software was to be integrated with hi-tech all weather cameras that can record vehicular details even when its foggy.
Now, after three years of it being worked upon, the state government officials wants to conduct more research. This only displays how important people's life is for the political and administrative brass.
On an average, annually, 120-130 lives are lost in various accidents on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. On Sunday morning too, 17 lives were lost and 33 others sustained injury when a bus rammed into two stationary cars near Shedung on the Expressway.
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