Grief and anger blended on the Mumbai–Bengaluru highway on Saturday as residents living near Pune’s Navale Bridge performed Dashakriya Vidhi—a ritual traditionally held for the deceased—to symbolically mourn the lives lost on the accident-ridden stretch. The community warned that they would block the highway if authorities fail to implement meaningful safety improvements within the next 15 days.

Locals stressed that the area has become synonymous with tragedy. One resident explained that “the Navale Bridge section has turned into one of Maharashtra’s most dangerous accident zones—third across the state and the worst in Pune. Close to a hundred lives have been lost here, yet officials act as though the recurring fatalities are invisible.”

Their primary demand is the construction of an ele

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