Navale bridge accident: Audit report submitted last year flagged several issues on stretch, many were remedied

According to officials, most of the recommendations of the report were acted upon, bringing down the number of accidents on the road, and added that Sunday night’s accident is the first major one on the stretch in the last six months. The report by SaveLIFE Foundation had indicated considerable potential for improvements at the spot, besides the need for carrying out regular maintenance.

Officials said the audit report pointed to absent or inadequate traffic calming measures, absence of effective crash barriers, vision obstruction due to excessive vegetation, absent/damaged signage boards, risky service lane openings, poor ‘construction zone’ management, exposed concrete structure, hazardous pedestrian crossings, commuters waiting for public transportation, faded pavement markings and poor road and pavement surface conditions.

Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh said, “In one of the meetings on road safety, I had suggested that a third-party study of the Navale bridge stretch be carried out. So the transport commissioner roped in SaveLIFE Foundation for a safety audit. It submitted a report and we sent the recommendations to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), under which the stretch falls. The NHAI has complied with the recommendations by and large.” The central agency has scheduled a meeting of all agencies on Monday morning to review the situation.

Deshmukh refrained from commenting on the alleged high gradient of the road that causes heavy vehicles to slide down in full speed, especially if the ignition is turned off by the driver and the gear put in neutral. “The issue of the gradient is a technical issue and only the NHAI should be able to comment on that,” he said.

While the NHAI project director Sanjay Kadam was not available for comment, Amit Bhatia, the regional head of Reliance Infrastructure which maintains the highway, said: “As per our primary information, the truck could not be controlled because the driver had put the vehicle in neutral gear and the ignition was turned off. In the last six months, this is the first major accident on the stretch.”

About the actions taken following the audit report, Bhatia said rumbler strips were added every 100 metres and speed cameras installed. Besides, streetlights are being maintained meticulously and boards instruct drivers against turning off the ignition and putting the gear in neutral.