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Journalism of Courage
Inaction of PCMC, traffic cops at Nashik Phata chowk hits a family hard
The chaotic Nashik Phata chowk has thrown the life of 26-year-old Shaila Yadav-Gaikwad into a turmoil. She has received 45 stitches on her left hand which was injured in the mishap at the chowk.
On Wednesday, Yadav suffered a wrist injury in the mishap on the Pune-Nashik highway at the Nashik Phata chowk. Yadav, along with her daughter, was crossing the highway when a two-wheeler rider, blinded by the presence of a maze of autorickshaws, hit her.
Yadav crashed to the ground but quickly returned to her feet, only to find a big cavity on left wrist. A mass of flesh had come off her wrist. The crowd on the road was stunned even as the brave woman tied a hanky around her injury which got soaked in blood in no time.
A profusely bleeding Yadav was then rushed to a private hospital in Dapodi where she could not afford the 8220;expensive treatment.8221; A slum-dweller living at Nashik Phata, Yadav was told that the treatment would cost Rs 30,000. Her husband, a driver, who earns Rs 3000 per month, then shifted her to PCMC-run Yeshwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital. But not before paying Rs 4000 at the Dapodi hospital. 8220;My husband collected this amount from friends and relatives,8221; says Yadav, with tears welling up her eyes.
Yadav8217;s travails did not end there. Around 10 in the night, YCMH doctors sent her to Sassoon hospital, which is about 15 kilometres from Sant Tukaramnagar. 8220;I was told that there is no treatment available for a broken wrist,8221; says Gaikwad. From YCMH hospital to Sassoon hospital, the ambulance charges of Rs 150 was paid by an acquaitance of the Yadavs. At Sassoon, Yadav received 45 stitches and she is now back at her hut at Nashik Phata.
A mother of two, Yadav now finds doing family chores an impossible task. But that8217;s not her really worry. She has no money, not even the bus fare required to go to the YCM hospital every day. 8220;My husband hardly earns anything. He got me treated by borrowing money from where ever he could8230;Now the problem is I will have to go to the hospital every day for putting a new bandage around the injured wrist. I can8217;t even afford bus fare,8221; she says,8221; adding, 8220;Amhi khoop garib aahot8230;We are poor people.8221;
The Yadav family wouldn8217;t have suffered had the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and the traffic police been alive to the growing traffic mess at the Nashik Phata chowk which links Pune-Mumbai highway and the Pune-Nashik highway. The chowk is notorious for mishaps, almost every day, say local residents and activists.
Vehicles, especially, autorickshaws make indiscriminate movement on the Pune-Nashik highway right from 7 in the morning till late evening. Similarly movement of private cars, jeeps and trucks is witnessed on the blind corner from where vehicle head for Pune. 8220;In front of the Sagar Corner building, a maze of vehicles create impediment for smooth full of traffic,8221; says C Kachi, a local resident. After the mishap, Deputy Commissioner of Police Manoj Patil directed his men to put barricades at the chowk to stop illegal parking. Patil himself visited the chowk and directed his constables to act tough against illegal parking. However, PCMC officials have not yet woken up. Three days back, city engineer Eknath Ugile promised that he would put no parking boards at the chowk. Till Sunday, there was no sign of parking boards at the chowk even as two more accidents have taken place at Nashik Phata on Saturday night.
