Maha: 17 workers killed as crane falls on bridge slab during Samruddhi Expressway construction
Fadnavis announces probe
Mumbai (PTI): Seventeen workers were killed and three injured as a crane fell on a bridge slab during construction of the third phase of Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra's Thane district on Tuesday, an official said.
"A few persons are still feared trapped and efforts are on to rescue them," an NDRF official said.
Three persons were injured in the incident and they were being treated at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital at Kalva in Thane, he said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a tweet said he has ordered a probe into the incident by experts.
He expressed grief over the death of workers in the accident.
It was a special-purpose mobile gantry crane used in bridge construction and to install precast box girders in highway construction projects.
The accident took place shortly after midnight on Tuesday near Sarlambe village in Shahapur tehsil, around 80 km from Mumbai, the official said.
The Samruddhi Mahamarg, named Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is a 701-km-long expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.
It traverses 10 districts including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik and Thane.
The construction of the Samruddhi Mahamarg is being carried out by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.
The first phase, connecting Nagpur to the temple town of Shirdi, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022. It covers a distance of 520 km.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis inaugurated the 80 km long second phase of the Samruddhi Mahamarg stretch from Bharvir village in Igatpuri taluka to Shirdi on May 26.
Shinde said in May that the third and last phase would be completed by the end of December this year.
As many as 88 people have lost their lives in road accidents in the last six months on Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra, including 25 last month as a private bus caught fire after hitting a divider, an official said.
Road hypnosis is cited as one of the causes of the accidents on the six lane wide access-controlled expressway, the state highway police official said.
Highway hypnosis or driving hypnosis is a condition when a driver zones out while driving a vehicle without remembering what occurred in that specific period.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
