Even 17 years after the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was opened to the public, the 94.5 km stretch, that sees hundreds of accidents every year, does not have a single trauma centre. And, for the past 15 years, officials from Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) have been promising that the much-needed trauma unit will be operational 'soon'. Finally, three years ago, it constructed one at Ozarde, near Talegaon toll plaza. In January, MSRDC floated bids for someone to run the centre, but eight months later, nothing has moved. The Siddhivinayak Temple Trust, too, that has committed to sponsoring Rs 1.23 crore worth of equipment for the centre, is still waiting for government's go-ahead.

Statistics provided by officials reveaal that in 2017, of the 360 accidents reported, 105 motorists died, whereas 147 suffered serious injuries and 44 sustained minor injuries. A few days ago, State Transport Minister Diwakar Raote had called for a high-level meeting of MSRDC, state transport officials, senior PWD members and Highway Police at the Sahyadri guesthouse. Senior MSRDC officials clarified that they would indeed make the trauma care unit operational soon. They also assured that they were working out modalities along with the state public health department to ensure that the centre had the required qualified experts.