Authorities have intensified enforcement, including e-challans and safety inspections. Laser guns and interceptors monitor speed, while driver and vehicle checks continue to promote road safety. MUMBAI: Samruddhi Mahamarg continues to be among the country’s deadliest highways, but corrective action by the authorities has marginally brought down the number of accidents this year.
Samruddhi was in the focus last week because a PIL before the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court highlighted the grim statistic of “one death every three days” on the highway. Latest data from the transport department shows that crashes dropped from 63 during the first eight months of last year to 57 in the same period this year, and deaths from 120 to 80. Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar attributed the reduction in crashes to "proactive" efforts by special RTO squads , which issued echallans to over 12,000 violators in 2024.
But experts caution that fatalities persist due to a combination of factors, including the road’s fundamental design, speeding, lane cutting by heavy vehicles and buses, and ‘highway hypnosis’ — a state where drivers, after long stretches of straight roads, lose focus, leading to accidents. One road expert explained that this phenomenon was behind several recent crashes. Ranjit Gadgil, programme director with the NGO Parisar, said, “This is one of the few highways with a posted speed limit of 120 kmph.
Vehicles regularly exceed this. Despite claims that all s.