At least 12 people were killed and 23 others injured when a speeding mini-bus hit a container truck on Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in the early hours of Sunday, police said.
The impact of hitting the pole was so severe that the front axle of the vehicle was broken, he said.
The police appealed to citizens not to panic and not to believe in any rumour.
Heavy rains over a span of few hours flooded many parts of Nagpur city, following which more than 400 people, including 70 students from a school for the speech and hearing-impaired, were rescued, said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday.
Chavan's aide also said police security has been increased for the senior Congress leader.
"As the driver might have nodded off, the bus went to the right side and first hit the crash barrier and then the divider," he said.
State-owned NHAI has created a Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous lane of 75 kilometres in 105 hours and 33 minutes on the national highway between Amravati and Akola districts in Maharashtra. Mentioning about the record, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the project was implemented by 720 workers including a team of independent consultants who worked day and night. The total length of the 75 kilometres of single lane continuous bituminous concrete road is equivalent to 37.5 kilometres of two-lane paved shoulder road and the work started on June 3, at 7:27 am and was completed on June 7, at 5 pm, the minister said in a video message.
It was a special-purpose mobile gantry crane used in bridge construction and to install precast box girders in highway construction projects.
A "big spark" in the electricity pole providing power to the girder launcher preceded its collapse during the construction of a viaduct for the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra's Thane district a day ago, in which at least 20 persons were killed, the police said on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday ordered a probe into a road accident on the Samruddhi Expressway which claimed 12 lives.
In his letters to Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Thackeray said it would be appropriate to opt for alternative alignment of Akola-Khandwa line considering the long-term irreversible impact the work will have on endangered species like tigers.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will embark on a fresh padayatra (foot march) from Gujarat to Meghalaya and during that period leaders and workers of the party's Maharashtra unit would criss-cross the state, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole said on Tuesday.
Contestant Sudhakar Adbale, supported by the MVA, won the Nagpur teachers constituency defeating his closest rival Nagorao Ganar, a BJP-backed independent and the sitting MLC from the seat, they said.
The incident took place at the unit, located 40 km from Nagpur, causing severe damage to the building, an official at Kondhali police station said.
India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar shared his superstition of wearing the left pad first and using his favourite bat even if it was broken by fixing it in his hotel room. The batting maestro, who was in Amravati, Maharashtra to inaugurate a sports complex said, "I used to take off the handle, add glue, replace the handle and put chairs on it so that it got properly stuck for the next day's play. I used to do it at my hotel room," he said. Tendulkar, who was greeted by cheering students in Amravati said that winning the World Cup was the most memorable moment of his life. "It was my childhood dream to play for India and win the World Cup. To realise that dream I toiled consistently. "I never gave up and finally achieved it. It took me 22 years to realise it. I succeeded because I kept trying. So, if you want to achieve anything in your life, don't turn your back and try to achieve it till you succeed," the master told his young fans.
"One nation, one law can be understood. But we will never accept one nation, one party plan of the BJP", Thackeray said.
Here's what some states are doing to get a grip on the situation. Ruchika Chitravanshi & Aneesh Phadnis report
The state reported 4,787 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest one-day count this year.
The much-awaited Ram temple consecration will be held in Ayodhya on Monday in a grand ceremony with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the rituals, following which the shrine will be opened for the public a day later.
This classification of districts is to be followed by states and union terrotories till a week post May 3, when the second phase of lockdown will end, for containment operations.
A year after storming to power in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have suffered a considerable erosion of support base in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' home turf Vidarbha, losing to Congress-Nationalist Congress Party in the municipal council polls in the region.
Elections to 92 nagar parishads and four nagar panchayats in Maharashtra will be held on August 18, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Friday.
Suspected Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists on Monday attacked the office of diversified conglomerate Indiabulls in Camp area of the city, second such incident since party chief Raj Thackeray yesterday accused the company of 'usurping' water meant for farmers for its power plant in the parched district.
"Some areas of Maharashtra will witness strict lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection. The government is going to hold a special meeting with officials before coming out with the lockdown measures," Thackeray said.
Talking to reporters in Amravati, Sule, a Lok Sabha MP, said Pawar, a senior NCP leader, had requested the Prime Minister's Office to allow him to speak at the event.
As most victims' bodies were charred beyond recognition, the authorities have decided to conduct DNA testing to identify them before handing them over to the relatives.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from farmers and their associations, and the Centre to a plea by the Andhra Pradesh government challenging the high court decision which said the state legislature "lacked competence" to make any law for shifting, bifurcating or trifurcating the capital.
Hours after asserting that there was no split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is its leader, party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday claimed that he did not make any such statement.
An emotional farewell was given to the valiant army jawans who lost their lives in the Uri attack, as their last rites were performed in their respective native villages with full military and state honours.
Amid the ongoing tussle between Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole and party veteran Balasaheb Thorat in the wake of recent legislative council elections, both the leaders came face to face at the party's state executive committee meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday, with both of them later claiming that everything was fine between them.
Talking to reporters in the Maharashtra legislature complex in Nagpur on Tuesday, Fadnavis said there was a 'feeling' in the House regarding the Shraddha Walkar case that instances of 'love jihad' were seen at a large scale in the state.
The Maharashtra police has reduced working hours of its women constables from 12 hours to eight hours, to help them balance their professional and personal lives, a senior official said on Friday.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday sacked senior leader Ramdas Kadam and former MP Anandrao Adsul for indulging in 'anti-party' activities.
This comes amid a rising number of cases in Maharashtra which has prompted the state government officials to reinforce the coronavirus norms.
NCP leader Fahmida Hasan Khan wants HM Amit Shah's nod to read scriptures of all faith outside PM house.
The deep depression in Bay of Bengal that crossed the coast close to Kakinada in East Godavari district on Tuesday morning left a trail of devastation as it brought with it a massive downpour in several districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Barring stray incidents of violence like stone pelting, the shutdown called by the MVA allies Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party was largely peaceful.
His spine, his heart, his pancreas -- one by one, all his organs have weakened, given the lack of medical treatment in jail, where he is kept in the notorious Anda cell. Continuous pain, frequent fainting spells, urinary problems, have all become part of his life.
"We are very worried about the rise in cases in Maharashtra. Don't take this virus for granted. It can come up unexpectedly. If we have to remain free of this virus, COVID-appropriate behaviour, containment strategy as well as vaccination has to be brought in," Paul said.
Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 18,466 fresh coronavirus positive cases, around 52 per cent or 6,303 cases more than the previous day's tally, and 20 fatalities, the state health department said.
