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In view of the spate of accidents on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and traffic police have decided to purchase speed guns and breathalysers to check rash and drunk driving on the 96-km expressway. On an average around 1,500 accidents occur on the expressway every year. In 2010, over 120 people were killed in various mishaps on the expressway.
The government seems to have woken up from its slumber after Monday's accident in which 26 people from a marriage party were killed on the expressway.
Minister of State for Home Satej Patil said that he has asked the concerned officers to procure 15 breathalysers and also install CCTV cameras on the expressway. "This will help us know which vehicles are cutting lanes and also book errant drivers," he said.
Patil convened a meeting at his office on Thursday, where a decision
was taken to set up a committee comprising superintendent of highway police Dilip Bhujbal, chief engineer of the MSRDC PP Dhavde and deputy commissioner of transport L P Khade. The three will provide inputs to reduce the accidents. "I have asked them to give a detailed report in the next 15 days," said Patil, adding that 90 per cent of the accidents on the expressway occurred between 1am and 5 am.
The minister of state said that soon traffic cops would check for drunk drivers at all the toll plazas on the expressway. Patil admitted that he had taken a similar meeting last year to discuss ways to prevent accidents on the expressway. "But the officials did not implement what I had said."
MSRDC joint managing director S Ramachandani said that people driving above the stipulated speed limit of 80 km per hour will be booked by the police for speeding.
A few years ago, the State Accident Prevention Committee had inspected the expressway and stated that the fencing and compound wall was broken at several places. The committee also noted that the lighting system in the tunnels was not switched on fully.
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