Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway to get safer by April

The 121kmlong sixlane bituminous carriageway on the MumbaiAhmedabad highway is being overlayed with white topping concrete by the National Highway Authority of India NHAI The ongoing white topping project costing Rs 553 crore is expected to be completed by April next year There will now be 10 foot overbridges FOBs and three vehicular underpasses VUPs at Sativalli Delhi Darbar and Pandirangwadi on the highway which are accidentprone areas Transporters activists and Palghar collectorrsquos office sources told midday that Cyrus Mistryrsquos fatal accident urged highway improvements due to frequent casualtiesAfter the death of Mistry midday highlighted road design errors and other shortcomings that forced the NHAI to make temporary changes like the installation of sign boards markings on the roads and lights on the highway etc However both fatal and nonfatal accidents continued to take place due to several reasons According to reports around 144 people died in road accidents on MH48 highway last yearAt least two lanes of the highway are kept open to keep traffic movingldquoWe are very optimistic about this white topping project The safety measures at Surya River bridge where Mistry and his friend died are in the scope Also safety measures for 17 black spots are in the scope of the projectrdquo Sumit Kumar manager NHAI told middayldquoIn addition to the existing street lamp posts around 400 new lamp posts will be installed at around 18 locations where there is no lighting on the stretch at presentrdquo he added According to Kumar the road markings along the entire stretch will also be revamped ldquoAlso the advanced traffic management system ATMS proposal for this stretch has already been sent to the RO Mumbai and is being processedrdquoKumar added that heavy rainfall damages the road annually due to traffic on the bituminous surface ldquoHence it decided that white topping is a better and longterm solution as compared to bituminous overlayrdquo he said adding that the road is being changed from flexible bituminous to rigid concrete for better performance and as a longterm solution to the issue of potholesAsked if traffic movement is getting hampered due to the ongoing project Kumar said ldquoKeeping all the safety measures as per IRC guidelines in mind traffic diversions have been made in work zones At least two lanes are always available for traffic even in the work zones Light traffic congestion may occur only during rush hoursrdquoThe NHAI is developing the highway from Dahisar toll plaza to the Gujarat border On Monday work was started near the Khaniwade toll naka NHAI awarded the contract to Nirmal BuildInfra Pvt Ltd to develop the 121kmlong stretch Speaking with midday Ashok Sharma general manager of Ahmedabadbased Nirmal BuildInfra said ldquoThis Rs 553crore project includes three underpasses The work will reduce accidents and also increase the lifespan of the road It would also reduce the chances of potholesrdquoSharma further stated that the work near Khaniwade toll naka was started on Monday ldquoWe have divided the work into four different sections and installed sewer machines at four locations We will work on 700 metres to 12 km of roads at a time Many black spots will be also redeveloped under this projectrdquo he saidSushant Patil president of NGO Bhoomiputra Foundation said ldquoThis is happening because of middayrsquos series of stories on the poor condition of the highway and the black spot which resulted in many accidents We have been fighting with the highway authority and collector for the last five years to develop this highway and tackle accidentprone spotsrdquoldquoA few months back we placed school bags on the highway and protested We also held the MH48 potholes exhibition at Vasai and invited all the authorities including VVMC VasaiVirar City Municipal Corporation and NHAI officials Water logging and potholes on NH48 have also led to several accidents We are hoping that no one will die due to accidents on the highway and authorities will deal with the black spotsrdquo Patil saidSpeaking with midday NHAI General Manager Suhas Chitnis said ldquoWe are carrying out white topping on MH48 and the entire stretch will be converted into concrete road There are 17 black spots on the highway and we are trying to remove most of these At many black spot sites we will install signboards to help avoid accidents This development will increase the life of the highway and also help reduce accidentsrdquo About water logging issue Chitnis said ldquoThe water logging issue is not included in this project but a different team is working on itrdquoRs 553 crCost of the project