The 5-kilometre stretch from Katraj to Navale bridge has turned out to be an accident-prone spot with eight accidents and five deaths in the past 16 months, according to data available with the Bharati Vidyapeeth police station, Dhankawadi.
Of the many issues that the stretch faces, the four major shortcomings include vehicles on the wrong side of the road, hawkers selling vegetables occupying a portion of the road, incomplete road widening work and potholes.
On Tuesday, one person was killed and eight others were injured, after an out of control truck rammed into 13 vehicles and ran over a motorcyclist.
“People drive carelessly, especially the youth. There is an urgent need for increasing signal timing below Navle bridge and more blinkers should be placed to safeguard people,” said Mohan Deshmukh who is part of the accident department at Bharati Vidyapeeth police station.
After a spot visit by an HT reporter, it was noticed that commuters were carelessly using the wrong side of the road which included two-wheelers, auto rickshaws and also four-wheelers.
“It is a daily routine as there are many small lanes passing from both the ends so people tend to put their vehicle in between. Yesterday’s accident was dangerous, I saw how truck rammed the vehicles,” said Suhas Yadav, a paan shop owner at a nearby complex.
{{/usCountry}}“It is a daily routine as there are many small lanes passing from both the ends so people tend to put their vehicle in between. Yesterday’s accident was dangerous, I saw how truck rammed the vehicles,” said Suhas Yadav, a paan shop owner at a nearby complex.
{{/usCountry}}Overspeeding vehicles and potholes also contribute to the hazards in the stretch from Katraj to Navale bridge.
“Since it is a slope, commuters do not follow the speed limit. With many potholes on the stretch, people try to skip the pothole by tilting their vehicles which creates an error of judgement for vehicles coming from the rear side and causes accidents,” added Deshmukh.
On the entire stretch, there are no CCTV cameras installed to keep track of speeding vehicles.
“CCTV cameras are must on roads, especially on highways. The footage is helpful while conducting an investigation,” added Deshmukh.
Nitin Gadkari, union minister for road transport and highways, in February 2019, had approved the road widening project to ease the traffic on Wadgaon-Katraj stretch of Dehu road-Katraj bypass. The contract was awarded to All Grace Infrastructure, Gurugram.
Rs 96 crore was sanctioned for the 5-km stretch. Once ready, the six-lane lane road will have paved shoulders and 7-metre wide service road on both sides of the stretch.
The Central PWD has prescribed that the entire width of the stretch has to be 60 metres.