Sion-Panvel Highway in Navi Mumbai records most accidents: Report

In 2022, a total of 734 road accidents were reported across Navi Mumbai, out of which 110 mishaps were reported on the three main highways – Palm Beach Road, Thane-Belapur Road, and Sion-Panvel Highway.

Navi Mumbai: Among the three main highways in Navi Mumbai, Sion-Panvel Highway recorded the highest number of road accidents and fatalities in 2022, states a report by Navi Mumbai Traffic Police.

“The major two black spots on Sion Panvel Highway are Vashi toll naka and Vashi bridge. There are a total of six lanes with three lanes on each side. These six lanes narrow down to three lanes at the toll naka, increasing the congestion. Speeding and negligence of two-wheeler riders often lead to accidents here,” a traffic police officer from Vashi said. (Hindustan Times)

In 2022, a total of 734 road accidents were reported across Navi Mumbai, out of which 110 mishaps were reported on the three main highways – Palm Beach Road, Thane-Belapur Road, and Sion-Panvel Highway.

The report states that Palm Beach Road had reported 19 accidents that killed four people, the Thane-Belapur Road had 39 accidents that killed 12 people and the Sion-Panvel Highway had 52 accidents that killed 24 people last year.

“The major two black spots on Sion Panvel Highway are Vashi toll naka and Vashi bridge. There are a total of six lanes with three lanes on each side. These six lanes narrow down to three lanes at the toll naka, increasing the congestion. Speeding and negligence of two-wheeler riders often lead to accidents here,” a traffic police officer from Vashi said.

“There are dumpers, buses and other heavy vehicles on this route, which increases the congestion as well as the risk for the smaller vehicles. We always have traffic bandobast at these two spots yet the structural congestion of this road poses a major challenge. Moreover, the ongoing construction work of the new bridge is the other add-on to the issues,” he added.

Of the 734 accidents reported in 2022, 285 were fatal and killed 298 people. 330 accidents seriously injured 451 people, 88 accidents caused minor injuries to 109 people and 31 accidents caused no injuries.

The data indicated that on Palm Beach road, the maximum accidents were reported at Moraj Circle, Sarsole signal and Akshar signal.

“Due to the straight roads, vehicles tend to do overspeeding, forgetting the fact that there are signals ahead at junctions which could be accident-prone if they do not control their speed. Due to overspeeding, four-wheeler drivers often lose control of their vehicle and jump over the divider,” a traffic police official from the Seawood unit said.

“On our suggestion, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is installing new CCTV cameras across the city, thus helping us penalise more traffic offenders and adding more eyes on the road,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, traffic, Tirupati Kakade, said.

In 2021, Palm Beach road had a total of 22 accidents, Sion Panvel Highway had 46 and the Thane Belapur road witnessed 36 accidents.