142 crashes and 128 deaths on Samruddhi Mahamarg in first eight months of 2026

The 701-km Samruddhi Mahamarg was built to make the Mumbai-Nagpur journey fast, comfortable and safe, and to give Maharashtra's development a new push. It was opened to traffic in phases from December 2022. But crashes have not stopped since it became operational. Over the past three and a half years, hundreds of families have lost their loved ones.

According to available official figures, 185 crashes took place on the expressway in 2025 alone, killing 152 people. In 2024, 126 people died in 137 crashes. The 2026 figures are even more shocking. Between January and August, just eight months, there were 142 crashes and 128 people lost their lives. The number of deaths in these eight months is higher than the 126 deaths in all of 2024.

According to figures from the police and obtained under the Right to Information Act, 444 people died in 491 crashes between December 2022 and the end of January 2026. Adding the 142 crashes and 128 deaths of the first eight months of 2026, the death toll is reported to have reached 572 by the end of August 2026.

Viewing these figures merely as numbers would be the greatest tragedy. Behind every death is a family, a parents' support, children's future, a wife's household and many dreams. Entire lives are being shattered in a crash lasting a few seconds.

The recent accident on the expressway near Dhamangaon Railway is the latest example. A container truck rammed from behind a vehicle carrying youths back to Wardha from Shegaon with an idol of the goddess, and seven people are reported to have died. The youths were returning to their village in festive spirits, and the journey proved their last. Earlier, in a bus crash in the Pimpalkhuta area of Buldhana district, several passengers were burnt alive, and the incident shook all of Maharashtra. Crashes have not stopped since.

The question, then, is why so many lives are being lost on this expressway. The answer is not as simple as blaming the driver. Various studies and reports have cited causes such as speeding, drivers dozing off, fatigue, lane violations while changing lanes and "highway hypnosis". Driving in the same manner for a long time on a long, straight and almost obstruction-free road can reduce a driver's alertness.

Lane discipline is also a serious issue. When heavy vehicles in particular change lanes suddenly, overtake wrongly or park on the road, vehicles coming from behind do not get enough time to react. At night the situation becomes more dangerous. Strict enforcement of lane discipline for trucks and other heavy vehicles, regular checks of drivers and adequate rest facilities must therefore be put into practice on the ground, not just on paper.

The most important question before the administration is what is being done to prevent crashes before they happen, instead of acting after them. Reports say work is under way to install an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) on the expressway. The system is meant to improve monitoring of speed, traffic violations and other matters. But there is a big difference between installing a system and deaths actually falling. People should see its effect on the road.

There is no dispute that the Samruddhi Mahamarg is an important project for Maharashtra's development. Travel time has fallen, movement of traffic has speeded up, and many districts have got a faster connection on the Mumbai-Nagpur route. But the pace of development cannot be measured at the cost of human lives. The time has passed when matters ended with a panchnama, an inquiry and an announcement of aid after every major crash. Every crash should get a separate audit by cause. The answers should be made public on where crashes recur, at what time they happen, what types of vehicles are most involved, in how many cases speeding is the reason, in how many driver fatigue is found, how many crashes involve vehicles parked on the road, and how long ambulances and medical help take to arrive after a crash. Hundreds of deaths are not just a statistic. They are a serious warning for the government, the administration, expressway management and society.

Every citizen is asking today how many more lives must be lost before the safety arrangements are rethought, and how many more families must be ruined before firm steps are taken. The expressway should become known as a symbol of Maharashtra's progress, not of crashes, a symbol of speed, not of fear. The road has become modern and the journey faster, and safety arrangements must now become modern at the same pace. Otherwise this expressway, built in the name of development, will stand with a nagging question in people's minds: who is "Samruddhi" (prosperity) really for, and how many are paying its price.