Taken for a big ride

It was meant to be India’s first six-lane concrete, high-speed, access-controlled, tolled expressway … and in many ways, when it opened, it was.

But after two major accidents in the last week all but closed down the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the alarm bells were deafening. DNA took the road to find out what it was that actually ailed this modern marvel.

From a lack of crash barriers to watchtowers that do anything but ‘watch’, the expressway has turned into a veritable death trap.

All this thanks to errant drivers and authorities who seem either unwilling or unable to rectify the flaws.