Maharashtra Government has sanctioned a separate traffic monitoring unit for Samruddhi Expressway in backdrop of increased traffic on one of the important road stretch of State. Acting on the request from Additional Director General of Police, (NVS), office of Director General of Police, the Home Department has sanctioned 15 Highway Police Help Centres plus a dedicated control room.

 

The dedicated police posse would help in providing rapid response in case of any emergency, be it related to law and order or one in case of any mishap. A meeting of high level committee of Secretaries of State Government and chaired by Chief Secretary went through the proposal put up by DGP and recommended creation of new police outposts on Samruddhi e-way. For manning the new help centres plus the control room, the State Government has provided nod for creation of new 420 posts on the establishment of Maharashtra Police. The empowered committee also granted nod for one time expenditure of Rs 43.47 crore relating to establishment of control room plus police outposts. The establishment of highway police help centres would ensure that dedicated staff are available throughout the e-way at designated places.

 

The 701 km e-way has seen the vehicular traffic quadrupling within a short period and now on average about 50,000 vehicle daily travel on the stretch between Nagpur and Mumbai. As the volume of traffic increases, some teething issues to are cropping-up, especially some stray incidents of waylaying on the forest patch in Buldhana district. Apart from that the other major challenges in streamlining the traffic and responding in time of some major mishaps also needs timely intervention of the police force. The idea behind establishment of the highway police outposts that would come handy to address these two current challenges. Basically in such situation the response time is most critical since the nearly police station at tehsil place is located at quite a distance. The police think tank noticed the gap and post study recommended constitution of exclusive force for manning the Samruddhi E-way. Similarly, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is also exploring setting-up of township and growth centres along the Samruddhi Expressway. With the development likely to accelerate the traffic, the control room can provide an immediate help in case of any immediate need.