E-Paper
Old Pune-Mumbai highway records more fatalities than expressway
As per the statistics shared by the highway state police (HSP), 79 accidents were recorded on the old Pune-Mumbai highway between January and October this year
If the Pune-Mumbai expressway is known for road crashes, the old highway connecting the two cities has seen more accidents this year in Pune division. As per the statistics shared by the highway state police (HSP), 79 accidents were recorded on the old Pune-Mumbai highway under Maval and Vadgaon divisions in which 53 people lost their lives between January and October this year. The corresponding figure reported on the expressway is 36 accidents and 22 fatalities.
The highway police said that several service and entry and exit roads used as access points to villages across the old highway is a major contributor to accidents.
“The various road safety steps taken by our teams, along with other agencies, have helped reduce accidents on the expressway as compared to previous years. One of the latest initiatives is two-wheeler patrolling round the clock on highways. Our team tail violators till a nearby toll point or at other spots when they slow down vehicles,” said Lata Phad, superintendent of police, highway state police, Pune.
As per the statistics, the old highway recorded 93 accidents under Maval and Vadgaon divisions in 2021 when 56 people lost their lives. The number of accidents went down to 84 in 2020 when 50 people died.
On the other hand, on the expressway, 36 accidents were recorded and 23 people lost their lives in 2021. In 2020, 26 people died in 42 accidents.
“Villagers who have access to the entry and exit roads on the old Pune-Mumbai highway tend to speeding and heavy vehicles using the stretch also pose risk to riders. So, in most of the fatal accidents, bikers have lost their lives. We have been regularly holding road safety awareness programmes covering the villages near the highway,” Phad said.
The villagers said that absence of other routes force them to use entry-exit points on the highway.
“We do not have any other alternative road to travel than the old Pune-Mumbai highway, so we have to risk two-wheeler travel. If sufficient service roads are provided through the highway, it would be safe for villagers for daily travel,” said Sakharam Gadhave, a villager from Vadgaon.
Dnyaneshwar Dekate, a villager from Maval, who lost his son in a two-wheeler accident, said that the existing access points are dangerous.
“The police and government agencies should build subways and bridges for villagers to get on to the main road and fine people driving on no-entry stretches,” said Dekate, whose 22-year-old son Amit died last year while returning home on a two-wheeler from Pune.
