Leopard mauls woman near forest in UP's Maharajganj
Maharajganj (UP) (PTI): A 21-year-old woman was mauled to death by a leopard in the Nichlaul Range of the Sohgirwa Wildlife Sanctuary here on Saturday, officials said.
Badhya village native Sairun Nisha had gone to graze goats near Bankasia Tola outside the village around 3.30 pm.
Near a sugarcane field, a leopard attacked her, inflicting grievous injuries on her neck and face, officials said.
Hearing her cries, villagers rushed to the spot and raised an alarm, which made the leopard retreat into the forest.
Nisha was taken to the Nichlaul Community Health Centre, where doctors declared her dead.
Divisional Forest Officer Niranjan Surve confirmed that Nisha died in a leopard attack.
He said forest personnel have been deployed in the area and teams are patrolling to capture the animal.
Surve said villagers have been advised not to venture alone near the forest and sugarcane fields.
He said the victim's family would be compensated as per the provisions of the law.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
