Faultlines spell nightmare on E-way

As many as 206 people have been killed in accidents on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway,according to the State Highway Police records. Authorities have identified four spots that are particularly dangerous. The State Highway Police and the Pune Rural Police claim that despite bringing the accident-prone areas to the notice of IRB Infrastructure,the company that has the contract for maintenance of the expressway,and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation,no action has been taken.

“Along with issues like the design of the expressway,the psyche of the drivers is also an important factor when it comes to accidents. How many of the drivers know there is a speed limit on expressway,” said H D Katkar,assistant police inspector Lonavala division,state highway police. “It has been observed that accidents happen mostly at three spots – at Kamshet Tunnel,on the 5-km patch between Bahur and Ozarde and at the exit on the expressway towards Somatne (better known as Somatane Phata).” “Immediately after the Kamshet Tunnel ends on the Pune side,there is a curve which drivers fail to judge when driving at high speed,” Katkar said. Police inspector,State Highway Police,A S Chavan,said,“Amrutanjan Bridge near Khandala is yet another accident-prone spot. We have faced problems in removing the vehicles damaged in accidents as cranes are always delayed.”

The 5-km patch between Bahur and Ozarde is another danger area. “Drivers tend to speed up on this patch. Cases in which drivers run into dividers or skid due to overspeeding are many,” Katkar said. At Somatne Phata one often sees cattle or people from nearby villages on two-wheelers,he added. Bikers have been frequently killed in accidents at this spot. “There has to be some change in the basic design of these spots. We have written to IRB about maintenance-related complaints and to MSRDC for fundamental design issues,but to no avail,” said a senior officer of the state highway police. Chavan also pinned the blame on drivers.”These accidents have occurred due to similar mistakes of drivers.”

Chief technical officer,IRB,Ajay Deshmukh,said,“We have a very elaborate system of patrolling on the expressway from which we get inputs about things that can cause harm to travellers. Those things are immediately taken care of on priority basis. Even in the case of cranes and ambulances our response time is less that 15 minutes despite unavailability of U-turns on the expressway.”