After the horrific June 5 accident on Mumbai-Pune Expressway killed 17 people and highlighted the unsafe state of the E-way, PWD minister Eknath Shinde and transport minister Diwakar Raote yesterday visited the area to review the safety measures taken.
<img title="Eknath Shinde" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/jun/10-Eknath-Shinde.jpg" alt="Eknath Shinde" /> PWD minister Eknath Shinde points &nbsp;at the ongoing landslide mitigation work and said it would be completed within a month.
Shared responsibility They started auditing the expressway from Lodhiva Bridge at Khopoli. &ldquo;Our government is very concerned about public safety at highways but it&rsquo;s also the public&rsquo;s duty to follow RTO rules and drive in their lane to avoid such fatal accidents,&rdquo; said Shinde.
<img title="Shinde and Diwakar Raote talk to the cops during the safety audit yesterday. Pics/Atul Kamble" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/jun/10-Eknath-Shinde-1.jpg" alt="Shinde and Diwakar Raote talk to the cops during the safety audit yesterday. Pics/Atul Kamble" /> Shinde and Diwakar Raote talk to the cops during the safety audit yesterday. Pics/Atul Kamble
When asked about the missing crash barriers and broken safety ropes, Shinde told mid-day, &ldquo;I have passed an order to put up crash barriers wherever missing, and to repair all the safety ropes on the Expressway.&rdquo;
No landslides Although there were multiple landslides during the last monsoon, Shinde promised there would be none this year. &ldquo;This year, I can assure everyone that there will be zero landslide incidents in the monsoon,&rdquo; the PWD minister claimed, adding that the landslide mitigation work that had started in October 2015, will be completed in a month.
Trauma centre The ministers then went to the Talegaon toll naka, where a trauma centre was supposed to become operational in 2014. As of now, there is still no facility to cater to emergency cases. Raote told the media, &ldquo;A trauma centre is ready and will probably become operational in about two months.&rdquo;
Caught and fined While auditing the toll naka, Raote caught a truck plying on the Expressway without a number plate. &ldquo;These things will not be tolerated. We will increase the penalty amount and even punish the owners of such vehicles,&rdquo; he said. The truck driver, Parilal Tukaram (42), had just bought the truck in Thane. He was caught by the minister and was fined R900 for lane cutting and missing a number plate.

PWD minister Eknath Shinde made this promise during a joint inspection of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, along with transport minister Diwakar Raote

'Zero landslides this monsoon'

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'Zero landslides this monsoon'

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