Mumbai’s killer roads: 341 crashes on 48 blackspots

The traffic department has tabulated 341 crashes across the 48 blackspots which lead to the death of 109 people between 2019 and 2021. Of the 48 blackspots, the one on Sion-Panvel Highway, just before the Octroi Naka, is the most hazardous

Mumbai: The city tops the list of blackspots in internal roads in the state, according to data released by Maharashtra Highway Traffic Police recently. Mumbai was among 44 districts studied by the department. There are 48 blackspots, which include stretches with treacherous potholes, under the jurisdiction of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Navi Mumbai comes second with 32 blackspots, followed by Nagpur with 23.

Thane, India - September 16, 2022: Bad condition of road after potholes resurface due to incessant rains on Thane-Bhiwandi Road near Kasheli Village, Bhiwandi, in Thane, Mumbai, India, on Friday, September 16, 2022. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Blackspots are stretches of nearly 500 meters where either five road crashes or 10 fatalities have taken place in three years.

The traffic department has tabulated 341 crashes across the 48 blackspots which lead to the death of 109 people between 2019 and 2021. Of the 48 blackspots, the one on Sion-Panvel Highway, just before the Octroi Naka, is the most hazardous. Eleven people, including a 52-year-old ration shop owner, Pandrinath Chavhan, lost their lives here earlier this year.

On January 10, 2021, Chavhan, set out for his regular morning walk at 6:15 am, along the road approaching the naka. When he did not return till 7:30 pm, his wife and son Pratik (25) panicked and headed out to look for him. When they arrived at his usual spot, they discovered he had been run over by an unidentified car and the driver had fled.

Later, cops at Mankhurd police station told Pratik that his father had died in the hit-and-run.

“I was newly married at the time. My father had taken a loan of ₹3 lakh for the wedding. He was the sole bread winner and after his sudden death I had to pay off the loan as well as fend for my family,” said Pratik, who works as an office boy at BARC.

Three days later, when he was caught, the driver said the brakes of his vehicle had failed. His claim was untrue, as it was subsequently discovered on inspection that the car was in good health. On further probe, the accused revealed that he was sleepy at the time and had crashed into the divider before jumping to the other side of the road where Chavhan was walking.

The Chavhans, however, continue to begrudge the law enforcing agencies, since the driver was released three days after he was caught as the section under which he was arrested was bailable. “We are still waiting for justice and answers to find out why was my father was taken away from us just because of the mistake of a man sitting behind the wheel of a car,” said Pratik.

While addressing the State Road Safety Council’s 11th meeting at Sahyadri guest house in January 2022, transport commissioner Anil Parab had directed officials to make saving lives a priority while planning new road safety measures for this year.

Kulwant Sarangal, additional director general of police (highway traffic) said, “We collate and corroborate the list of blackspots and send it to the concerned authorities so that they can take short- or long-term measures to rectify those spots.” He added that concerned authorities study the spots and find out the reasons for the accidents following which steps are taken to rectify the blackspots.

Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police (Traffic), said accidents and fatalities in Mumbai have decreased since the past few years owing to the measures taken by the traffic police and the authorities maintaining the roads, “The number of crashes and fatalities have shown a considerable decline. We are now working towards bringing them down further,” said Roushan.

Piyush Tewari, CEO and founder, SaveLIFE Foundation was not easily satisfied by the government officials’ claim. He said, “The tragic death of Cyrus Mistry once again highlights how dangerous our roads are. In 2021, more than 1.55 lakh people were killed in road crashes across India. Each crash has to be looked in two distinct directions: cause of crash and cause of injury in the crash. Sixty per cent of all fatal crashes were caused by speeding. Non-usage of seatbelts and collision with exposed hard structures along the road are key factors for injury. played key roles.”

Tewari felt that this incident and hundreds of others occurring every day call for a serious review of the lack of implementation of the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019, fixing road engineering issues leading to such crashes and injuries and carrying out a mass awareness and training campaign to ensure higher compliance with safety standards.

Ajay Govale, director, community impact, United Way Mumbai, an NGO that works on issues of road safety, spoke in a similar vein. There are multiple issues that put an average Mumbaikar at the threat of a crash, he noted. The NGO carried out a study in collaboration with IIT-Bombay in 2020.

According to the study, most accidents in Mumbai occur because of over-speeding. Govale also insisted that most accidents because of over-speeding took place during the weekend. The study also found out that signages indicating speed limits, crash prone zones or intersecting sections ahead were missing on Mumbai roads.