A crane fell on a bridge slab during the construction of the third phase of the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Thane district on Tuesday, killing 15 workers and injuring three. Five others are feared trapped under the debris.
The accident took place in the wee hours of Tuesday near Sarlambe village in Shahpur tehsil, around 80 km from Mumbai. The crane was a special-purpose mobile gantry crane used in bridge construction and to install precast box girders in highway construction projects.
The cause of the accident is not yet known, but officials suspect that it may have been due to a mechanical failure. The injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital.
The Samruddhi Mahamarg, named Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is a 701-km-long expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur. It traverses ten districts including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik, and Thane.
The construction of the Samruddhi Mahamarg is being carried out by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. The first phase, connecting Nagpur to the temple town of Shirdi, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022. It covers a distance of 520 km.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the 80 km long second phase of the Samruddhi Mahamarg stretch from Bharvir village in Igatpuri taluka to Shirdi on May 26. Shinde said in May that the third and last phase would be completed by the end of December this year.
More than 100 persons have died in accidents on the 600 km portion of the expressway. Data from December 11, 2022 to March 20, 2023 shows that mechanical breakdown due to speeding accounted for over 400 accidents, punctures for 130, and tyre-burst for 108.
The latest accident is a reminder of the need for safety precautions on construction sites. The authorities must ensure that all safety measures are in place to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future.
