Over 50 vehicles punctured by iron board on Mumbai-Nagpur highway, stranded overnight

motorists were left trapped on the roadway overnight because no aid arrived for a long time. (Image: X)

Panic erupted along the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Highway after more than 50 vehicles had their tires punctured by an iron board that had fallen onto the road.

The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on December 29 between the Malegaon and Vanoja toll plazas in Washim district, involving four-wheelers and freight trucks, reported NDTV. This caused a long traffic gridlock on the freeway.

Furthermore, motorists were left trapped on the roadway overnight because no aid arrived for a long time. The board is being studied to see whether it fell inadvertently or was thrown maliciously.

This comes at a time when the safety of the high-speed corridor is being questioned. A fatal mishap near Kadwanchi hamlet in Jalna district in June left six people dead and four injured. These kinds of accidents have prompted concerns regarding the operational preparedness of the roadway and the safety precautions taken for commuters.

The Samruddhi Mahamarg is a 701-kilometer access-controlled, six-lane motorway in Maharashtra that is only half operational. It is one of the longest greenfield road projects in the nation, linking Nagpur, the third-largest city in the state, with Mumbai. The construction cost was Rs 55,000 crore.