43 accidents in 34 days; FIR against flyover contractors

Lack of a layer of mastic asphalt made the road slippery

The Nerul police registered an FIR against officials of the Sion-Panvel Tollway Private Limited on Tuesday night after 43 accidents were reported since June 1 at Uran phata flyover on Sion-Panvel Highway. The FIR has been registered under Section 304 (Part II) of the IPC for not laying a mastic asphalt layer as per standards on the road leading to skidding of vehicles and collisions. Navi Mumbai Commissioner Hemant Nagrale called for action after the 43rd accident was reported on Tuesday.

The case has been registered against officials including the firm’s vice-president Pavnit Singh Sethi, assistant vice-president Vibhutidutta Satpati, senior manager and project head Ramzan Patel, and operations and maintenance manager Sanjeet Srivastav.

Police Inspector Madhukar Bhatte said, “We notified the officials about the accidents. Of the 43 accidents since June 1, four were serious leading to the death of two, injury to several people and damage to vehicles. The road is slippery and on applying the brake on the flyover vehicles run the risk of turning turtle. We haven’t arrested or called anyone for interrogation yet.”

Mr. Srivastav said, “Following roadworks in January and February, there were no potholes on this stretch of road. We worked under the supervision of the Public Works Department and conducted anti-skid tests. We are also putting up thermoplastic rumble strips on the road.” In Tuesday’s accident, Sarfaraz Ilahi Sayyad, 35, died on the spot when his pickup truck was hit by a speeding truck driven by Santosh Rajput. The cleaner of the pickup truck, Keshav Ghadge, was injured. Another truck then rammed into the vehicles and a tempo later crashed into the truck. A biker, Pankaj Thukrul, riding parallel to the pickup truck was also injured in the accident.

Solapur- resident Sayyad died at the same spot where a person had died a few days ago in an accident. Rajput was arrested under Sections 304A, 279, 337 and 338 of the IPC and Section 184 of the Motor Vehicle Act for rash and negligent driving causing death.