Maha CM Shinde assures steps to curb accidents on Samruddhi Expressway

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said his government has taken the Buldhana bus tragedy, in which 25 persons were charred to death, seriously, and assured that measures would be taken to prevent accidents on the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway.

Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited Pimpalkhuta village in Buldhana district, where the accident occurred in the wee hours of Saturday. They interacted with the police personnel, district administration officials and local residents who apprised them of the sequence of the tragedy. Speaking to reporters at the site, Shinde said drivers of all vehicles need to follow rules related to speed limit. "So far, most of the accidents on the Samruddhi Expressway have occurred due to human errors. But the government has taken this accident seriously and steps will be taken to ensure that accidents and errors don't happen," he said. Experts would be consulted before putting in place measures to prevent accidents, the CM added.

"The death of 25 persons in today's accident is unfortunate. They could not be saved as the door of the bus was locked. Eight people could come out," Shinde said.

Quick response vehicles, fire brigade, police stationed on the expressway reached the spot on time, he said.

A total of 33 people were on board the private sleeper coach bus when it was going to Pune from Nagpur. The accident occurred at 1.30 am in which 25 persons were charred to death after the bus caught fire. Eight others, including the driver and the cleaner of the bus, survived as they managed to come out of the broken window, police said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 520-km-long Phase-1 of the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg in December last year. Officially named as 'Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg', it is a pet project of Fadnavis.

Ahead of its inauguration, CM Shinde had described the Samruddhi Expressway as gamechanger project with a potential to transform the state.