Pune-Mumbai highway: Shivneri bus death highlights dangers of ‘bulky, ill-marked’ speedbreakers, again

The less than 2-km stretch on the Khadki highway, though comes under the Khadki Cantonment Board jurisdiction, but it is maintained by the PMC. The stretch in Phugewadi area is often described as the “most dangerous”. In 2016, a 20-year-old civil engineer fell off a PMPML bus after it bumped into one of the ‘abnormal-sized’ speedbreaker on the same stretch.

On June 20, 2016, Deepika Shivraj Mankoni, a resident of Chinchwad, was heading towards the Institute of Tool Design where she was doing a two-month course during her vacation. Somewhere between Phugewadi and Dapodi, Deepika fell from the bus and suffered a head injury. She died on June 23. Deepika’s uncle Sangmeshwar Sakolkar lodged a police complaint with Bhosari police. The bus driver was arrested on charges of negligent driving.

“Passengers and passers-by who took Deepika to the hospital told us that the bus jumped after hitting a speedbreaker on the Phugewadi-Dapodi stretch. They said that even if buses ran slow, they jumped due to the dangerously laid-out speedbreakers,” Sakolkar had told Pune Newsline.

On December 26, 2015, 65-year-old Dnyaneshwar Raghumath Abhang (65), a resident of village Charholi, died after he fell from a PMPML bus when the driver applied brakes suddenly. The driver and conductor were booked for causing death by negligence, after they allegedly abandoned the injured passenger at a desolate spot on the road.

According to Dighi police, Abhang was sitting on a seat at the rear end of the bus. While the bus was on its way to Charholi and, had crossed Bhosari stop, the driver suddenly applied brakes at a speedbreaker. This gave a sudden jerk to the bus, throwing Abhang out.

Similarly, in the latest case in Khadki on Sunday, the Khadki police said the luggage door of the Shivneri bus may have opened after it hit the speedbreaker. “The driver must not have realised that the door had opened.” A visit to the site revealed that the speedbreaker was hardly visible, even during the day, as the white marking has faded. The mishap happened around 8.30 pm when the visibility, despite the presence of street lights, was poor. The driver has been arrested in connection with the case.

Civic activists said, instead of bus drivers, the police should book the civic authorities for “negligence”. “Every time someone dies due to bad roads or faulty speedbreakers, the Pune police target the drivers. Instead, the negligent civic officials should be booked,” advocate and activist Sachin Godambe said. Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla said a team has been assigned to probe the matter.

“We will certainly take action,” she said. Activist Manav Kamble of Nagari Hakk Suraksha Samiti said, “The Pune police seem to be afraid of the civic officials. It collars the hapless drivers instead. When will the police chief act decisively?”

A PMPML official, however, said their drivers often complained about bulky, and often, ill-marked speedbreakers. “Besides, several complaints have also been lodged by the commuters in this regard. These speedbreakers could prove especially dangerous for those sitting on the last seats,” the official added.