CIRT gives ₹23 lakh quotation for road safety audit

Balasaheb Patil, superintendent of police, Palghar police department said, “We received a quotation of ₹23 lakh from CIRT to study the blind spots on the highway.”

After Central Institute for Road Transport (CIRT) in Pune quoted ₹23 lakh for a road safety audit of a particular spot on National Highway 48, where Cyrus Mistry and Jehangir Pandole died in a car accident on September 4, the Palghar police have now decided to approach Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombayand explore other options for inspection of the entire stretch and suggestion of corrective measures. Earlier this month, Palghar police had sought advice from CIRT about whether spot where Mistry died was faulty.

Former Chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry died in a car crash, in Palghar (ANI)

Balasaheb Patil, superintendent of police, Palghar police department said, “We received a quotation of ₹23 lakh from CIRT to study the blind spots on the highway. We have sent the quotation to the district planning and development committee (DPDC), who will decide if we have the funds to spend a huge amount for this road safety audit as the police department does not have any financial allocations for such surveys.”

“The CIRT will do a complete road safety audit of highways in our jurisdiction and 29 identified black spots. Asper our letter, the CIRT will carry out inspection and suggest reforms,” added Patil.

Speaking about alternative options, Patil said, “We did not expect such a huge quotation from CIRT. We thought we could get the road safety audit done in ₹3-4 lakh. We have asked CIRT to revise the quotation.We are also looking for other options and have approached IIT Bombay experts’ team and are in talks with them as well. This team has also conducted a road safety audit in Raigad district. We are awaiting approvals from DPDC.”

CIRT director KVRK Prasad said, “The quotation has been sent to Palghar police department from our side, but I cannot comment or give any details about the same.”