Pune: a Friday night accident where two people died and 12 injured were only the latest in a series of accidents on a hazardous stretch of Bypass Katraj-Dehu road, which claimed life of 56 people for the past seven years.
After Friday accidents involving tankers, mini buses and several other vehicles, Sinhagad Road police, and officials from the Indian National Highways Authority (NHAI) on Saturdays take reviews of accident-prone spots, especially between Bhumkar Chowk and Bridge Navale at my bypass.
Accident Friday happened the day after two women were killed while the other five suffered sad injuries after a quick truck crashed into a slow pickup truck, which collided with three motorcycles near Narhe Selfie Point.
This is between 46 fatal accidents for the past seven years.
“We conducted a 3.5km stretch between Swami Narayan Temple and Vadgaon Bridge.
We found that since 2014, there were a total of 46 fatal accidents on this stretch where 56 people died,” Senior Police Inspector Devidas Gheware from the Sinhagad Road Police Station.
Police on Saturday suggested a few steps to Nhai to prevent accidents.
“We suggest releasing the selfie point in Narhe where the accident occurred on Thursday.
People park their vehicles on bypass and visit the Selfie point.
This causes traffic congestion and accident,” Gheware said.
The police also told NHAI to maintain the shoulder of the highway correctly and to install accidental obstacles.
However, the NHAI authority blamed the accident on cutting track and speeding up with heavy vehicles.
“We made an announcement at Khed-Shivapur Toll Plaza, urging truck drivers and buses to maintain the discipline of the lane and did not accelerate the slope,” said an NHAI official, added that this application was constantly ignored.
Within 7 years, 56 lives are lost in the Katraj-Dehu road bypass
