Maharashtra: Cracks have emerged on the Samruddhi Expressway, which is considered the dream project of the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government. According to reports, a 50-feet-long crack of about 3 cm is visible on the expressway. The government had spent crores of rupees for the 701-km-long Samruddhi Expressway between Mumbai and Nagpur.
The matter came to light when a crater on the stretch of the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway in Sahapur in Thane district affected traffic in the area for several hours on Thursday, an official said.
The crater, a video of which went viral on social media, was noticed on the stretch between Shere Bere and Shendrun villages, the official said.
Incidentally, the stretch is the same on which a gantry crane collapsed in August last year, killing several workers involved in the construction of the expressway.
The third phase of the 701-kilometre expressway connects Nashik to Mumbai.
Govt acts after expressway develops cracks
Maharashtra PWD Minister Dada Bhuse said cracks that had developed on the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have been repaired.
The 40 to 50-metre-long crack was detected near Fatiyabad village on chainage 443/650, a release from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said.
This crack is on the stretch of the expressway that was opened for traffic in December 2022, officials said, adding it was on the part of the carriageway that is laid at a height of three metres.
The crack, which developed as the side wall of the road sank a little, was filled using a chemical named 'epoxy material shalfix SC 40' and this 50-metre stretch will be laid once again through the contractor, the MSRDC release informed.
Talking to reporters, Bhuse said instructions have been given to officials to find out if there are more cracks along the 600-kilometre route of the expressway currently operational.
Incidentally, a video went viral during the day of a crater on the expressway in Sahapur in neighbouring Thane district. Traffic on the stretch between Shere Bere and Shendrun villages was affected for several hours due to this development.
Cracks have appeared within a year on the expressway, which was built at a cost of Rs 55,000 crore, due to corruption, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole told reporters on the Vidhan Bhavan premises.
Only powers-that-be have prospered due to the construction of the expressway, which is being dubbed the highway of death due to the large number of accidents taking place on it, Patole claimed.
"Like the Samruddhi Mahamarg, we exposed cracks in the Rs 18,000 crore Atal Setu connecting Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. Cracks on Samruddhi and Atal Setu are a sign of how unreliable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantee is," Patole quipped.
With inputs from PTI
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