Deer dies in accident on Mumbai’s western express highway; auto driver injured

The incident took place around 2am, when the driver was heading on the southbound stretch of the highway

An autorickshaw driver hit a deer on the western express highway (WEH) in Goregaon east on Friday. The deer was taken to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) where it succumbed to the injuries.

The injured deer. (HT)

The incident took place around 2am, when the driver was heading on the southbound stretch of the highway.

According to officials at Aarey police station, the driver was on the service road when the deer came in front of his vehicle. Unable to apply brakes, the driver ended up hitting the animal, said police.

“Our rescue team took the injured deer to SGNP. A medical officer at SGNP declared the animal dead,” said Santosh Kank, range forest officer, Mumbai.

Veterinarians at SGNP said a post-mortem will be conducted on Friday. “The deer suffered a severe head injury and there was a lot of blood loss. We are awaiting a letter from the Aarey police, after which we will do a post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death,” said Dr Shailesh Pethe, veterinarian, SGNP.

“The autorickshaw overturned with the impact. The driver has suffered injuries, but his condition is stable,” said Jyotsna Rasam, senior inspector at Vanrai police station.

The Vanrai police station have recorded the statement of the driver.

While there is no official census for deers, SGNP official Rajendra Pawar said there are close to 10,000 deers spread across 103 sqkm of SGNP and Aarey Colony.