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Journalism of Courage
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will be putting up more signages on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway near Charoti bridge, cautioning motorists to drive safely, confirmed an NHAI official a day after Cyrus Mistry, former head of Tata Sons, and his friend Jehangir Pandole, Director, Global Strategy Group at KPMG in London, were killed after their car crashed on the bridge in Kasa, Palghar district, and two other occupants suffered grievous injuries.
Project Director, Suraj Singh of NHAI which manages NH-48 said, “Palghar MP Rajendra Gavit has called for a meeting to discuss more signages on the highway. We will install more signages on the highway, but the spot where the accident happened was not a blackspot.’’ Gavit told The Indian Express, “More signages, ambulances, and fire brigade are needed on NH-48 at Talasari, Kasa, Manor. I will be taking this up in a meeting with all stakeholders on Thursday.”
A Palghar police officer said the car was speeding. “As per a CCTV camera at the Dapchari check point of RTO, their car travelled 21 km in 14 to 16 minutes.” Requesting anonymity, another government-authorised expert, who visited the spot on Sunday, said, “Briefly there are three issues that led to the accident. One of them is over-speeding and electronic enforcement will be needed to keep a check on it. Secondly, the occupants seated behind were not wearing seat belts and so, all cars need a reminder system for seat belts. Thirdly, there needs to be a crash barrier on the parapet wall on the bridge to lessen the crash impact.”
While the Palghar police said the two-lane bridge over the Surya River (also called Surya River Charoti bridge) on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway is not an accident-prone site since no fatal accidents took place there, locals and motorists claim the highway needs better signages as well as improvised dividers between the service road and the highway before reaching the Surya river bridge.
When The Indian Express visited the spot on Sunday evening, hours after the crash, there were not adequate traffic-related signages and markings at the spot, especially ahead of the divider. The crash spot is on the Mumbai-bound stretch of the Surya river Charoti bridge situated near Charoti village in Kasa tehsil in Palghar.
Around the time of the accident, the vehicle was coming from the Ahmedabad side of the highway towards Mumbai. As it reached Charoti village, it took the Kasa flyover which is just a few hundred metres from the Surya River bridge.
Getting down the Kasa flyover leads one to a three-lane road. However, while approaching the Surya river bridge, within a 50-80 metre distance, there is a curve which narrows down to two lanes.
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Police said when Mistry’s car crossed the flyover to go towards Mumbai, the vehicle was on the extreme left of the three lane road and was speeding.When it reached the bridge on the Surya river, where the road narrows to two lanes, the car – in its attempt to move to the right side of the lane – rammed into the boundary wall or railing of the bridge after veering out of control, police said.
(With inputs from Vallabh Ozarkar)
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