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Digital boards installed on ‘deadly stretch’ alerting drivers in different languages
The natural slope makes it difficult for speeding vehicles to suddenly press brake and reduce the speed near Navale Bridge
PUNE: While the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Pune district administration have been continuously making efforts to prevent/reduce the number of accidents on the deathly stretch between New Dari Pul Bridge and Navale Bridge Chowk, they have now installed digital boards along the entire stretch warning drivers in various regional languages not to shut down their vehicle engines or change to neutral gear.
As per the information shared by NHAI Pune, new digital boards have been installed at the beginning of the tunnel and near the New Dari Pul Bridge alerting drivers in different regional languages. According to the NHAI, these boards are particularly for the benefit of drivers from south India and other parts of the country who do not understand Hindi or English.
Whereas the NHAI has also installed a speed gun camera to take action against vehicles speeding on the slope along this stretch. The natural slope makes it difficult for speeding vehicles to suddenly press brake and reduce the speed. As such, most commuters are now taking the old route of the Katraj Ghat section to travel to Pune city since the last few weeks.
Aditya Mohite said, “I regularly travel between Pune and Satara for my work. Last month when I was travelling from the New Dari Pul Bridge bypass highway road, I got an online challan of Rs2,000 due to the speed gun camera. However, that is the wrong spot to install a camera to take action against vehicles. It is equally risky to slow down the vehicle on the slope and there are chances of accidents when small cars suddenly slow down.”
A traffic police constable at Katraj Chowk on condition of anonymity said, “From the last two weeks, we are seeing a sudden increase in the number of vehicles coming from the Katraj Ghat section especially on weekends. When we caught one of the drivers for not wearing a seat belt and asked why they were taking this route, the driver said that they get fined for speeding on the bypass highway so they avoid taking that route.”
Over the last few years, accidents have been regularly occurring on this stretch and over 100 people have lost their lives while many others have been injured. This is a vulnerable spot as heavy vehicles come speeding from the new Katraj tunnel after which there is a slope on the highway and the vehicle speed increases. Most drivers shut down their engines or change into neutral gear but as they approach Navale Bridge Chowk where there is an exit to the service road, the vehicle tends to go out of control or the brakes don’t work leading to accidents.
