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Journalism of Courage
Maharashtra’s Transport department in its preliminary report on the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway accident said that it did not occur due to tyre bust or worn-out tyre and overspeeding. The report mentioned that the Regional Transport Official on the site of the accident did not find any pieces of rubbers of the tyres, where they found tyre marks of the said bus on the road.
On the issue of overspeeding, the report stated that the bus left from Karanja Lad Interchange at Samruddhi Mahamarg at 11:08 pm and reached at the accident spot at around 1:32 am.
The report suggests that the bus covered a distance of 152 kms in 144 minutes and hence could not have oversped.
Shekhar Channe IAS, who is holding the charge of transport commissioner, confirmed to The Sunday Express about the preliminary report findings.
“The bus was not having problem as per the preliminary findings. However, how the accident happened and whose negligence it was are part of the police investigation,” Channe added.
The transport report mentioned that the bus hit steel pole which was 4 feet in height due to which the driver lost control over the vehicle and the bus again hit the road diver which damaged the bus diesel tank. This may have led to the fire. As per the RTO the bus is three years and five months old.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which has built the expressway, has claimed that while the accident was unfortunate the design of the expressway was not to be blamed. “We are not the regulatory authority. We are infrastructure development authority. However, we are providing all necessary help to other authorities — State Highway Police, RTO. On Samruddhi Mahamarg there are quick response vehicles. We reached the spot in just five minutes after the control room received call from the police. Seven fire fighting vehicles were on the spot to douse fire. Besides five ambulances also were readily available. We are sorry that we could not save all lives. But we are providing all necessary help,” MSRDC Joint Managing Director (II) Sanjay Yadav said.
When further asked about the issue of highway hypnosis on Samruddhi Mahamarg that is also one of the major cause of accidents in past instances, Yadav replied, “We have tied up with an NGO having expertise in highway safety measures. The NGO suggested to put rumblers on highway which has been done on almost all portions. Besides, at entry points of the highway public address systems have been installed alerting drivers to not overspeed and drive cautiously.”
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