India, May 15 -- The recently widened stretch of the Mumbai-Nashik Highway near Kharegaon has emerged as a major accident-prone zone, with at least three people losing their lives in separate crashes over the past month between the Nayara Petrol Pump and the Kharegaon toll naka stretch. Even as construction of the toll plaza nears completion, despite the toll naka having been scrapped in 2017 after protests, motorists and local residents have alleged that the route lacks critical safety infrastructure.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has widened the highway to 12 lanes as part of a major infrastructure project connecting Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway and the M...