Fifteen high-risk zones along the Old Mumbai-Pune Highway have undergone a major safety overhaul under the Zero Fatality Corridor (ZFC) programme.
Backed by a collaborative effort between public institutions and private partners, the initiative aims to engineer a systemic reduction in deaths through data-led design changes, enforcement, and emergency response. This stretch of National Highway 48 has historically ranked among the most dangerous roadways in Maharashtra. In 2023 alone, 88 lives were lost here, with recurring patterns of fatal crashes pointing to neglected black spots and flawed road design. The ZFC programme, operating through the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Maharashtra Highway Police, and Highways Infrastructure Trust, conducted an exhaustive road safety audit to target these problem areas.
Based on the findings, critical engineering interventions were deployed. These included better visibility at junctions, safer pedestrian crossings, clearly demarcated signage, and speed-calming infrastructure. Intersections were redesigned to eliminate blind turns, and high-friction surfacing was added in stretches known for skidding. But it is not only the physical terrain that has shifted. Authorities have stepped up enforcement mechanisms, deploying better surveillance and training traffic personnel to encourage behavioural compliance. The twin approach of infrastructure rectification and active policing seeks to create a sustainable culture of road discipline.
Launched in 2016, the broader ZFC initiative on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway has already shown how data-led planning and multi-agency collaboration can drastically lower deaths. The expressway, once recording 151 fatalities in 2016, now sees nearly half that number. In 2022, a further 32 percent reduction in casualties reinforced the programme’s long-term efficacy. Since inception, over 3,500 engineering flaws have been corrected across the Mumbai-Pune corridor. Infrastructure updates include the installation of 176 kilometres of crash barriers, tactile edge lines to assist visually impaired travellers, and strategically placed emergency median openings. Black spots such as those near kilometre 82.7 have been systematically mitigated.
The intervention is not just a story of infrastructure but of impact reducing deaths, saving families from irreversible loss, and building a template for road safety replication across Indian highways. In a country that records over 1.5 lakh road crash deaths annually, such initiatives offer a vital ray of hope. If Maharashtra’s oldest expressway can see fatality rates halved, the approach may well be scaled to other corridors. For urban and rural India alike, human lives must take precedence in transport design, and road safety must no longer be treated as incidental but integral to development.
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