Highway to death

According to police records, there have been 898 road accidents on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway on strethes extending about 50 kilometer from Kashimira to Talasari in the north of Thane district between January and July this year. Some 584 motorists were injured, including 96 seriously, in the mishaps.

Intrestingly, 89 of the victims killed this year were truck drivers. However, the figures do not include those who succumbed to their injuries at various hospitals.

The reasons of the accidents are not far to see. The road-widening along the busy national highway has not been been symmetrical ever since work started on treacherous stretches late last year.

Work have been taken up on isolated patches causing confusion among motorits. Speeding motorists suddenly finds stretches of the road blocked at the ends resulting in head on collision. This is eveident from the panchnama carried out by investigators after the accidents, police sources futher revealed.

During the monsoons, erosion of top soil from mountain slopes often find their way on the road causing slippery conditions for the drivers and often resulting in fatal accidents. The approach to the bridges en-route are also found to be very haphazard leading to mishaps, a senior police pointed out.

Speaking to Express Newsline, Thane District Collector R Kullar said that it cannot be denied that there has been a sharp rise in accidents resulting in deaths on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High. Road building work has been asymmetrical as environmental clearance has to be obtained for some of the stretches that needs to be widened. 8220;There are problems acquiring land in Dahanu taluka due to objection raised be environmentalists,8221;added Kullar.

Superintendant of Police Thane Rural Param Bir Singh pointed out that some stretches of the road which has already been built should be utilised. This could go a long way in reducing congestions and accidents, said Singh.

Some of the haphazard spots identified by the police patrol are Ghodbunder, Malji Pada, Sasu Manghar, Bafne, Chinchchoti and Sativali under the jurisdiction of Manikpur police station. Most of the accidents have taken place near Bharol, Dekhale, Lalole, Amboli, Tawa, Dhanore Talasari and bends along Kajale villages in the district.

Truck operator I S Rishi pointed out that it not only the haphazard conditions which is resulting in such large number of fatal accidents on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. The toll can be mititigated if effective police patrolling is intensified in the hazard prone zones, Rishi added.