Brace for more traffic jams on the 94-km-long Mumbai Pune Expressway starting this week. This as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) plans to conduct traffic blocks for another 20 days on the Expressway till April 2018 to remove loose rocks for avoiding landslides during monsoon.
On Wednesday, last week, the MSRDC carried out five traffic blocks each of 15 minutes near Adoshi tunnel. However, MSRDC officials feel that more blocks will have to be undertaken on the Expressway to remove all loose rocks.
A MSRDC official, said, "After Wednesday's traffic block, we feel that another 20 days traffic blocks will have to be undertaken for removing loose rocks near Adoshi tunnel, Bhatan, Lonavala and Khandala section. The blocks will be five in a day, lasting 15 minutes for each traffic block."
The MSRDC official, added, "We do not block traffic for any maintenance work, but it is only for removing loose rocks we have to block traffic, for safety purposes in case there is rockfall during its removal."
The MSRDC has already taken permission from the state highway police for conducting traffic blocks up to April 2018. "We have permission from state highway police considering it's a matter of safety, but we have to inform them 48 hours before taking traffic block on any given day," added the MSRDC official.
Apart from removing loose rocks, the MSRDC also undertakes fixing of nets and rock bolting to avoid landslides. The exercise of safety is carried out every year after an expert committee had suggested that naturally fractured rocks have become loose and thus measures were suggested to ensure they do not fall.
The MSRDC has been at the receiving end in the past few years, after motorists lost their lives during monsoon due to increased landslides. Post this, a fresh geological survey of the rocky area on the Expressway was conducted.
The Mumbai Pune Expressway is the first Expressway of India and was made open for public around 15 years ago. Around 50,000 vehicles use the Expressway on a daily basis.
A recent study conducted a year ago, by a committee having scientists onboard, has also stated that overload and climate change is detrimental for the Expressway due to which cement panels are also witnessing cracks.
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