Rider dies after collision on spot of prior accident

After the 2017 mishap, 24-year-old’s uncle had moved HC about the sorry state of Sion-Panvel Highway, which is still dangerous.

Six years ago, Kalamboli resident Sourabh Singh, who ran a logistics business with his father, met with an accident on the Sion-Panvel Highway, when he lost his balance after his two-wheeler skidded on a potholed stretch. He suffered fractures on his arm and a broken collarbone, which took four months to heal, after medical intervention. The mishap in 2017 drove his uncle Deepak Singh, a Kharghar resident and activist, into filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at Bombay high court (HC) about the shoddy condition of the highway and the dangers it posed to motorists.

Deepak Singh holds the PWD and the contractor assigned for concretisation work of the road equally responsible his nephew’s death.

While the matter is still pending in court, the 24-year-old, who became the face of the activism, died on the same highway on May 1, when his two-wheeler collided with a biker who was driving with two others as pillion. Sourabh was heading home at midnight. The accident occurred at the Nerul stretch of the highway.

Nerul police is investigating the case and has filed an FIR against Mohsin Khan, the driver of the two-wheeler, under various sections of IPC and MVA for rash driving and violations of traffic norms. Singh holds the Public Welfare Department (PWD) and the contractor assigned for concretisation work of the road equally responsible his nephew’s death. Earlier, cops took Sourabh to NMMC Hospital, where he was declared dead on admission.

Following the 2017 incident, as Singh witnessed the hardships the family went through due to the poor condition of the road, he sought details of the number of accidents on the highway between January 2016-17 from the Navi Mumbai police department, through a Right to Information (RTI) Act.

“The data revealed the severity of the situation – 93 deaths and 242 accidents had occurred due to the shoddy condition of the road. My PIL also referenced the near-fatal accident my nephew had to face. It led to the HC directing both PWD and state government to file a response,” said Singh.

Following HC’s directives, Singh recalled receiving an email assurance from the secretary of PWD in 2018, of fixing the potholes and completing the road concretization work at the earliest. The 23.5 km highway passes through nodes like Vashi, Sanpada, Nerul, Juinagar, Belapur, Kharghar and culminates at Kalamboli.

While the matter is still in court, Singh lamented “the twist of fate” that led to his nephew’s death.

“He was returning after watching a late night movie and was headed home riding through LP Junction of Nerul. It appears that he was not aware of PWD blocking the access to the junction and neither was there any board informing about the alternate route available to motorists. Those who are not familiar with this stretch do not know of the option of a service road. In the confusion he seems to have driven on the wrong side and collided with bikers riding triple seat,” said Singh.

Singh has now decided to make a second appeal on the earlier PIL, as he felt “the PWD had failed to comply with safety norms which led to the recent accident”.

“Work has been going on for over four years. There is no regard to maintain safety norms. I have repeatedly been writing to PWD to look into the haphazard manner of the ongoing work. There was no need to block the entire road when concretisation work is done lane-wise,” Singh elaborated.

Singh had written to the chief minister’s office in April this year, requesting that all work be completed before the onset of monsoons. The activist even identified six danger spots on the highway due to allegedly questionable work carried out.