Sharp rise in accidents, fatalities on Samruddhi Corridor; Mumbai-Pune Expressway fares better

Mumbai, Mar 8 (PTI) Accidents and deaths due to them rose sharply on the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg in 2025, while minor mishaps on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway saw an increase amid a marginal decline in overall crashes, officials said on Sunday citing provisional data of the Maharashtra highway police.

The Samruddhi Mahamarg recorded 185 accidents in 2025, a 35 per cent increase from the 2024 figure of 137, as per the highway police data.

Fatal accidents on the corridor, which connects Vidarbha's largest city to the country's financial capital, rose from 96 in 2024 to 128 in 2025, while the number of deaths increased from 126 to 152, reflecting rise of 33 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.

Accidents involving serious injuries also doubled from 23 to 46. The number of persons seriously injured in such accidents surged from 50 to 140, the data showed.

The six-lane access-controlled Samruddhi Corridor was opened to traffic in phases since December 2022, with the entire stretch getting commissioned last year. An Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) is currently under implementation to improve monitoring and enhance road safety.

Incidentally, the Maharashtra transport commissioner's office did not mention the rise in accidents and fatalities on Samruddhi Mahamarg in its press release issued on January 22 this year though it highlighted the decline in serious accidents and fatalities on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the country's first access-controlled corridor.

While informing that fatalities on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway had dropped by 22 per cent during the period, the release attributed this reduction to sustained road safety interventions, stricter enforcement and awareness drives.

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway recorded 187 accidents in 2025, slightly lower than 191 in 2024, marking a 2 per cent decline.

However, minor injury accidents increased by 12 per cent, from 25 to 28, while the number of persons sustaining minor injuries rose sharply by 42 per cent, from 65 to 92.

Accidents without injuries also increased from 44 to 58, a rise of 32 per cent. Fatal accidents on the nearly 95-km-long Expressway declined from 74 in 2024 to 60 in 2025, while the number of deaths fell from 90 to 68, official data showed.

Serious injury accidents also dropped from 48 to 41, with the number of persons seriously injured marginally decreasing from 143 to 140.

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway became operational in 2002, substantially reducing travel time between Maharashtra's two largest cities. Authorities implemented an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) on the route in 2024 to monitor traffic violations, manage congestion and strengthen emergency response through surveillance cameras and speed detection systems.

Across Maharashtra, road accidents rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2025, with the state reporting 36,450 crashes compared to 36,118 in 2024 and 35,243 in 2023, as per the provisional data.

However, fatalities recorded a marginal dip to 15,549 in 2025 from 15,715 in 2024, while 15,366 people lost their lives in road accidents in 2023, the data showed.

The state transport department has set a target of reducing road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2030. PTI KK BNM