Two days after Sunday night’s accident on Navale Bridge on the Mumbai-Bangalore Highway in Pune, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has launched a massive drive to clear encroachments on the sides of the highway and service roads, officials said. At least six people sustained injuries and had to be hospitalised after a truck rammed into multiple vehicles on the Katraj Dehu Road Bypass.
The drive is being conducted amid heavy police presence, anticipating hostile reactions from local citizens, officials added. “The NHAI has launched an anti-encroachment drive in the Navale Bridge area since Tuesday morning. Police officers have also been deployed,” said inspector U B Shingade of Sinhagad Road traffic division.
The drive comes after top officials of Pune city police, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the NHAI visited the accident-prone spots in the area and held meetings. The officials studied the Navale bridge and the adjacent selfie-point and proposed a slew of measures to improve safety on the bypass in Katraj and Narhe, which has seen a large number of accidents and fatalities in the past.
The series of corrective measures announced jointly by the key agencies – both short term and long term – include phased reduction in the speed limit of heavy vehicles to 40 kmph and dismantling the ‘selfie point’. Deployment of more speed guns for enforcement of speed limits in different areas is another measure that has been suggested to improve road safety.
Besides, a reduction in the gradient of the slope on Navale Bridge and reduction in curvature of the highway bypass connecting the viaduct and Swami Narayan Temple have been proposed. Authorities said painting additional rumble strips and installing more reflectors are also on the cards. Rumble strips will be painted on service roads as well as roads connecting to the highway and the number of street lights will be increased.
