Halting vehicles on the Samruddhi Mahamarg is strictly prohibited, but parked trucks are a common sight at night near the Amane toll plaza. A Mumbai-based motorist, Hitendra Pachkale, who travelled from Mumbai to Igatpuri via the expressway on Sunday night, captured photographs of illegally parked heavy vehicles and urged authorities to take strict action against their owners to prevent potential accidents. Pachkale told mid-day, “After crossing the main toll plaza at Amane, I noticed several heavy vehicles parked in double lanes on both sides of the expressway.
This is extremely dangerous, as speeding vehicles could crash into these parked trucks, leading to fatal accidents.” It is believed that truck drivers choose to park at the spot in question to rest while undertaking long journeys. Another motorist, Pushpak Dhanavde, who frequently uses the Samruddhi Mahamarg, said, “I believe trucks and heavy vehicles are being parked after the Amane toll plaza so that drivers can rest before continuing their long-distance journeys. However, this could be happening due to the absence of a proper truck terminus. I hope the highway traffic police and MSRDC [Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation] take serious note of the matter and provide a designated area for truck drivers to park and rest safely.”
Speeding on the Igatpuri-Amane stretch of the 701-km Samruddhi Mahamarg is an issue mid-day has highlighted. It is said that this is happening due to lack of CCTV cameras.
Expert Speak
Transport expert Jitendra Gupta said, “Any illegal parking should not be allowed. This raises a serious question: What are patrol parties doing? Are they really on the job? This not only indicates dereliction of duty but may also be linked to corruption.” He added, “A truck terminal should be there at either end of the expressway. Dedicated parking spots at intervals are necessary. If they don’t exist, it’s a major lapse in planning.”
Key facts
Samruddhi Mahamarg links Maharashtra’s economic and agricultural hubs. It passes through three varied habitat types: dry deciduous forests near Nagpur, grasslands in the middle section, and the Western Ghats near the end of the expressway near Mumbai. This stretch has the widest tunnels in the nation (17.6 metres) and the longest road tunnel in Maharashtra. The 7.78-km-long twin tunnels constructed by Afcons run through the Igatpuri-Kasara ghat section, which experiences some of the highest rainfall in the state.
701 KM
Total length of Samruddhi Mahamarg
