Residents angry over PCMC’s ‘apathy’ in implementing safety measures on the stretch

PCMC chief says will provide pension to boy’s parents; minibus that hit the child was overspeeding, had illegally entered BRTS corridors, say police

The accident spot (Express Photo by Manoj More)

Last week’s accident, in which a nine-year-old boy was killed by a speeding minibus, on the overbridge connecting Nashik Phata with Gurav Pimple has angered the residents of the area who have been complaining about the lack of safety measures on the stretch. Local people said they approached the civic administration several times with requests to implement safety measures on the overbridge, which often sees vehicles moving at a speed of 80 kmph to 100 kmph.

In the latest accident, Pratik Sawant, a Class III student studying at a civic school, was hit by a speeding minibus while trying to cross the road with his 22-year-old cousin, Suraj Chandanshive. The impact was such that Pratik’s head was severed from his body. “We were walking on the concrete platform of the BRTS route. Pratik was following us. I saw a minibus coming at a high speed from Bhosari side and entering the BRTS corridor, breaking rules. I was trying to signal at the bus driver, asking him to stop. But he did not pay heed. Out of fear, Pratik tried to cross the BRTS corridor. The speeding bus hit him so hard that his head was blown away quite a distance,’’ said Suraj.

Pratik was from Anantnagar in Gurav Pimple. Both parents of the child are differently-abled migrant labourers. “Since both of us are disabled and Pratik had no physical deformities, our entire existence rested on him. We had come all the way here from Beed to educate him so that he could carry the family’s burdens on his shoulders,” Pratik’s father Parmeshwar Sawant told The Indian Express. It is a hand-to-mouth existence for the family with the couple earning around Rs 8,000 a month working on construction sites. They pay Rs 5,000 as monthly rent for a one-room flat in Gurav Pimple. The couple has a daughter who studies in Class VII.

The accident spot is considered a dangerous stretch on the road by the residents of Nashik Phata and Kasarwadi areas. Local people said accidents were routine on the stretch. Around a month back, a woman was killed while crossing the road. “Vehicles come at a breakneck speed from Bhosari side as well as Gurav Pimple side. The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and traffic policemen have done little to slow down over-speeding vehicles. Whatever measures have been taken are half-hearted,” said Rajesh Tope, a resident of the area. A visit to the spot revealed that the PCMC had put up rumbler strips, along with a signage warning vehicle drivers about the stretch. But they are placed so low that hardly any vehicle slows down.

Local residents had complained to the civic administration about a year back. But no action was taken. About two months ago, PCMC Chief Shravan Hardikar had directed civic officials to look into the complaints. But nothing came of it. On Saturday, Hardikar assured The Indian Express that he would look into the issue. He, however, said that the PCMC had decided to provide a monthly pension of Rs 2,000 to Pratik’s parents. Manav Kamble of the Manav Haqq Suraksha Samiti demanded that the PCMC gives a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the parents. “This is a clear-cut act of negligence. If the PCMC was told about the danger to public life and still it refused to act, then the PCMC should at least compensate the family.”

BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap, president of party’s Pimpri-Chinchwad unit, said it was a serious act of negligence. “I will speak to the civic chief and seek an explanation from him,” he said. Former Standing Committee Chairperson Seema Savale, who had promised to set up rumbler strips on the city roads, said she will take up the issue at the general body meetings. Local corporator Asha Shendge said they will convene a meeting with the civic chief and other officials and ask them to implement safety measures on all city roads. Sub inspector Namrata Davare of Bhosari police station said they were looking for CCTV footage to catch the driver of the speeding minibus. The vehicle had illegally entered the BRTS corridors, the police said.

Manoj Dattatrye More

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades. Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died. Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More

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