A senior Maharashtra traffic highway official said that Wednesday’s major road accident at Medhavan Ghat on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway (NH-8) in Thane rural that killed 14 and injured 44 was waiting to happen. He further added that the highway police had written numerous letters to the concerned authorities regarding the deadly stretch, but it had fallen on deaf ears.
The Public Works Department (PWD), he said, had marked the stretch as a black spot. The IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd. that looks into the black spots and takes adequate measures to curb such fatalities had received a letter in January this year from the Maharashtra highway traffic police recommending specific measures and steps that need to be taken on the stretch where the above accident took place.
“What was the fault of the luxury bus driver and those who died? The six-inch divider is useless. We had recommended IRB Infrastructure to build a strong and tall divider, which would have definitely avoided the colossal damage,” said the senior official.
Another senior official who did not wish to be named said, “Six months ago, we had also reminded the PWD to carry out a survey to find out if any black spots have increased. Nearly six years ago, the PWD had carried out a survey and had found that there were 104 accident prone areas (black spots) on Maharashtra’s highways.”
“Further, the incident took place at a steep turn, where signboards informing the motorists about such turns is essential. We had also informed the IRB that the number of signboards are insufficient at such black spots,” he added.
When contacted, deputy commissioner, headquarters, Dr Rashmi Karandikar-Chavan confirmed the developments.
IRB Infrastructure could not be reached for comment.