This comes at a time when Maharashtra ranks third in number of deaths on road behind Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
At a time when the state government is looking at reducing travel time to 8-10 hours on the proposed Mumbai-Nagpur Communication Highway popularly called as Samruddhi Corridor; the state Transport minister Diwakar Raote has questioned the need for fast travel. This comes at a time when Maharashtra ranks third in number of deaths on road behind Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
On August 13, at a meeting in Sahyadri guest house, Raote questioned the need for vehicles to travel at 120-150 kmph on this proposed 700 kms long smart Express Highway. The Samruddhi Corridor is being built at a cost of over Rs 46,000 which shall have an Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS).
"The cars that run do not have tyres meant to run at such high speeds. What is the need for motorists to cover this 700 kms in 8-10 hours? Over 90 percent of accidents happen due to tyres. There is a need to have some mechanism that will undergo physical test of vehicles, plus it should have reflectors in the back and drivers before entering the Nagpur-Mumbai Communication highway," said Diwakar Raote, state Transport minister.
The officials from Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation explained that this highway is meant for 150 kmph but will keep speed limit of 120 kmph. "We have calculated the travel time of 8-10 hours keeping speed limit of 120 kmph. There shall be wayside amenities on at least 24 nodes where the highway will intersect districts," said a senior MSRDC official.
Meanwhile the ITMS is expected to make the Samruddhi Corridor smarter. It shall have high definition CCTVs to monitor the vehicles plying on them. If any vehicle breaches the speed limit, overtakes rashly etc. then it shall get captured by the CCTVs. The officials said that the motorists will be sent e-challan for the offence. It can also gauge if a truck or trailer is overloaded.
Also, there shall be ambulances every 50 kms plus helipads have been proposed at few locations. They will also tie up with local hospitals for carrying road accident victims. There shall be toll plazas at 24 locations at the entrance of this corridor, each intersecting the districts coming on this route.
MUM-NAGPUR HIGHWAY
- Total route: 700 km
- Landslide prone areas: 100 km (Thane-Igatpuri)
- Longest tunnel: 8 km near Igatpuri
- Number of villages that it shall bypass: 391
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