Impromptu agitation at Nagpur "killer zone"

Shipra was headed for her Katol Road residence on a Sunny scooter after collecting a medical prescription – for her five-year-old daughter who had taken ill – from the Coal Estate Hospital on the headquarters premises around 1.20 pm today.

Coming out of the HQ building, she proceeded along the roadside towards the Japanese Garden when she was hit from behind by the speeding heavy vehicle. Chatterjee was flung aside and died instantly of grievous head injury, sources in the WCL told The Indian Express.

Truck driver Umesh Kisandas Jat(25) of Vazirpur in Muzaffarpur district of Uttar Pradesh tried to speed away in anticipation of public ire. However, a young motorcyclist, with the assistance of some traffic personnel posted at the Japenese Garden square, managed to intercept the truck and apprehend him following a brief chase. Jat was taken into custody by the Sadar police on charges of reckless driving.

Shipra’s husband, Prabhal Chatterjee, who had left for Parsheoni yesterday on an official tour, arrived here this evening after he was informed about the tragedy. In the meantime, the body was removed to the Mayo General Hospital for post-mortem.

According to WCL Public Relations Manager K K Ghosh, Chatterjee joined the organisation over a year ago following her transfer from Bharat Coaking Coal Limited (BCCL), a Coal India Limited subsidiary, in Dhanbad. She had since settled in bungalow number 3 at Raj Nagar on the Katol Road.

Meanwhile, WCL employees and officials reacted angrily to the incident by resorting to the road-blockadein front of the headquarters. The accident was the second of its kind since January this year when another young employee, attached to the Excavation Department, was fatally knocked down near the same spot by a police van.

The protestors’ ire was directed at the fact that there has been a rapid increase in heavy vehicle traffic along the calm and serene road by the WCL headquarters.

This is primarily due to the diversion of heavy vehicles from the University Campus on the Amravati Road towards the Japanese Garden via Phutala Lake and Telankhedi temple. Most of these vehicles proceed at a break-neck speed, probably spurred by a relatively free carriage way, thereby converting the area near the Gondwana Club turning point into a veritable traffic hazard.

The steep downward gradient, linking the Seminary Hills with the Gondwana Club corner, has also been a matter of discomfort for vehicle users. Often, heavy vehicles come hurtling down the slope to take a speedy turn at the corner.

It took almost threehours of persuasion by senior police authorities, including Deputy Commissioner (Zone II) R N Dahate, to get the road cleared for regular traffic. The protestors gave up only after police officials assured them of corrective measures to check recurrence of such mishaps.

On its part, the WCL management is understood to have committed itself to certain steps, including the installation of a traffic signal at the mishap-prone spot and construction of speed-breakers on either side of the road going past the headquarters. Director (Personnel) J N Singh assured employees that he would look into the matter.