Mumbai | The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said on Wednesday that aluminium nozzles, mistaken by motorists as nails, were temporarily used on a stretch of the Samruddhi Expressway to fill minor cracks.
The clarification by the agency came after tyres of at least three cars were punctured in the early hours due to the objects, earlier identified as nails by the local police, near Daulatabad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
MSRDC said the contractor, responsible for maintenance, did not take adequate safety precautions.
Viral videos shot at night by motorists showed sharp objects neatly embedded in an asphalted patch on the high-speed carriageway.
In a statement issued in the afternoon, the MSRDC said that “preventive maintenance measures” were undertaken to fill minor cracks in a 15-metre section on the first and second lanes of the Mumbai-bound arm of the carriageway.
Aluminium nozzles were installed on the road for "epoxy grouting" as part of the maintenance work, it said.
“Traffic was diverted while the work was on,” the statement said, adding that a few vehicles entered the area after the work was completed around 11.30 pm on Tuesday. As a result, their tyres were punctured, it said.
The highway police soon reached the spot, but did not witness any accident or injury to anyone, the statement said.
MSRDC said the aluminium nozzles were removed from the spot around 5 am, and the traffic on the road, officially known as Hindu Hrudaysmarat Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Mahamarg, is now normal.
A fine is being imposed on the contractor for not taking comprehensive safety measures concerning traffic diversion at the location, said MSRDC.
The local police later said the spot had been barricaded, but a vehicle broke through it.
In one of the viral videos of the incident, a person claimed that tyres of four vehicles were punctured due to “nails hammered” into the Samruddhi Expressway. “Vehicles travel at 120 km per hour, and the stretch with nails has not been barricaded,” said the person.
In another video, a traveller said their car tyres got deflated due to "nails", and claimed they did not receive assistance for over three hours despite calling the expressway helpline multiple times.
“I was travelling with a family including three babies. We spent money (arranged for another vehicle) and sent them ahead,” he claims.
