Eastern express highway claims more lives: Two die as bike crashes into road diversion

Two young men died early on Saturday morning after they crashed their motorbike into iron barricades that were put up for road diversions on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) at Chunabhatti.

The victims have been identified as Chetan Shelar, 26, and Rahul Kadam, 27.

This is the fourth accident that has claimed lives on the EEH, the highway that connects the island city to the eastern suburbs and Thane, in the last two months alone.

According to Chunabhatti police, Shelar was riding the motorcycle and Kadam was seated in pillion when the accident occurred at around 1.45am at the south-bound stretch of the highway near Everard Nagar.

Police said Shelar had failed to spot the iron barricades and crashed his bike into them. Shelar and Kadam were rushed to a nearby hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.

“The barricades were put up for diversion due to the ongoing construction of the new flyover,” said Shahji Umap, deputy commissioner of police, zone 6. “We suspect the driver was not able to see the approaching narrow road due to the diversion.”

The police were referring to the construction of the BKC-Chunabhatti flyover which is underway at that stretch on the EEH.

The Chunabhatti police have registered a case against Shelar in this regard alleging that he was speeding. He has been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304 A (causing death by negligence).

Police attribute a number of reasons for the spate of accidents on the EEH, including overspeeding, atmospheric conditions, fatigued driver dozing off, other vehicle encroachments on crossings, signal jumping, animals on roads, losing control of the vehicle, tyre failure, potholes, and skidding off the road.

Many open patches on the highway cause motorists to frequently to go over speed limits. The risks double during the early hours of the day when there is less traffic on the highway.