01 July,2023 04:58 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondent
Sharad Pawar (File Photo)
On Saturday, the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar took a jibe at Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in connection with a Samruddhi Expressway bus accident that killed 25 by claiming people had told him such fatalities become "devendrawasis".
Presently, the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway is operational on a 601-kilometre stretch from Vidarbha's largest city to Bharvir in Nashik.
The Samruddhi Expressway is considered the brainchild of Devendra Fadnavis. However, it has been plagued by accidents since it was opened for the public last year.
On July 1, a bus carrying 33 passengers from Nagpur to Pune overturned on the Samruddhi Expressway and caught fire near Buldhana at 1.32 am.
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"A number of accidents have taken place on the Samruddhi Expressway. I have once travelled on the route. When people were asked about their experience, they told me the one who dies in an accident on the Samruddhi Expressway becomes a 'devendrawasi'," Pawar told reporters here.
"The work on the expressway has not been done scientifically and this may be the reason for so many accidents. Ex-gartia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased is not the solution. A committee of experts must be appointed to avert such accidents," he added.
Pawar also added that there are complaints of lack of signboards on the route. "There is a need for a thorough inspection of the entire route so that it is made safe for commuting," said Pawar.
Earlier in the day, CM Shinde ordered a probe into the accident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh for the families of each deceased.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray accused the government of not doing anything to stop accidents on the Samruddhi Expressway. "The Buldhana accident should serve as an eye opener for the government as more than 300 people have lost their lives on the expressway since it was inaugurated last year," he said.
Buldhana SP Sunil Kadasne said, "There were 33 people on board the bus, of whom 25 were charred to death. Eight others survived the tragedy and they were taken to a nearby hospital. They are safe."
The bus belonging to Vidarbha Travels had left Nagpur for Pune at 4 pm on Friday. It stopped at Karanja in Yavatmal district for dinner but met with the accident some time later, the police said.
(with inputs from PTI)
