45 injured as bus collides with trucks on foggy Delhi-Mumbai expressway in Rajasthan

Around 45 passengers were injured in a major accident on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Rajasthan’s Dausa district on Thursday, January 2. A private bus carrying devotees from Ujjain to Delhi rammed into two trucks that had already collided due to dense fog, police reported.

According to Nangal-Rajawatan DSP Charul Gupta, the bus’s front section was severely damaged, leaving many passengers injured. Over 20 victims were rushed to Dausa District Hospital for immediate treatment. Following the incident, chief medical officer Dr Deepak Sharma ensured additional doctors and medical staff were deployed to handle the large number of injured passengers.

This incident comes amidst ongoing scrutiny of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway’s construction quality. On December 5, union transport minister Nitin Gadkari addressed concerns about deficiencies in the expressway during a Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.

Gadkari revealed that experts from IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Gandhinagar were brought in to investigate the construction flaws. The findings highlighted deficiencies, and notices have been issued to four contractors deemed responsible. The government plans to blacklist these contractors and take action against the officials involved.

Built at a cost of Rs 1 lakh crore, it is the country’s longest expressway, reducing the Delhi-Mumbai distance by 200 km and slashing travel time to 12 hours. The project also includes a 10-year defect liability period, ensuring accountability for any future issues.

(with agency inputs)