Mumbai, Shiv Sena Member of Legislative Council Milind Narvekar has demanded the provision of a helipad and emergency facilities on the Atal Setu, which connects Mumbai and Raigad district, citing the recent 33-hour traffic congestion on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Narvekar highlighted the chaos on the high-speed carriageway between Mumbai and Pune after a tanker carrying highly flammable propylene gas overturned in the hilly Khandala Ghat section earlier this week.
The MLC said he also got stuck on the Expressway when he went to Pune to meet the family members of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash on January 28.
It is necessary to hold a review of the emergency arrangements on the Atal Setu, formerly Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, or MTHL, he said. With Atal Setu, the travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai has been reduced to just 20 minutes, and this has led to an increase in vehicular traffic on the sea bridge, he said.
According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the Atal Setu facilitated the movement of 83,06,009 vehicles over the past year.
Narvekar called for an urgent emergency plan to deal with situations arising from accidents such as the one on the Expressway or from natural calamities.
“There should be an emergency plan and a helipad on an urgent basis,” Narvekar said.
The Atal Setu, which links Sewri in Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai, was thrown open to the public in January 2024. Of its entire length of 21.8 km, 16.5 km runs over the sea.
Earlier, an industrialist had said that he took a helicopter to return to Pune after being stranded for eight hours on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway due to the massive traffic jam.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.