'Need for safety measures on flyovers to control accidents'

The death of two more people following a grisly mishap on the Sadar flyover Monday, which saw one person being flung off the elevated road to fall around 60 feet on the road below, has highlighted the twin issues of lack of safety measures and speeding on all flyovers in the city.

On Monday evening, Pawan Zade (40), a resident of Old Bagadganj and Anuttar Shambharkar (42), a resident of Hanuman Nagar, had taken the flyover riding a bike when a speeding car coming from the opposite direction rammed into them in a bid to overtake another vehicle. Such was the impact that Zade, who was driving the bike, was flung in the air and fell on the road below. Zade died on spot while Shambharkar sustained severe injuries and was rushed to Mayo Hospital but in vain. 
Sadar police soon rushed to the spot and arrested the car driver one Amol Gadwe (38), a resident of Hudkeshwar, who was believed to be inebriated when the accident occurred.

This is not the first incident in which a person has died in an accident on the flyover and nor the first time that somebody lost his life after being flung off the elevated structure. These incidents have raised several questions on the designs of the flyover apart from steps the administration is taking to control such incidents.

Traffic expert Ravindra Kaskhedikar said people need to understand that they are not just putting their lives at stake but also the lives of others while over speeding. "The side walls of flyovers have a lower height, there is a need to install barricades on them so that people don't directly fall from the flyover. Apart from this, there is also a dire need to make people aware of the consequences of over-speeding. Speed-breakers should be appropriately installed to control speeding," said Kashkhedikar. 
 
Social activist Kunal Mourya also emphasized the need to control over-speeding on flyovers. "CCTVs should be installed and rash drivers should be reprimanded. Rash drivers should challaned heavily so they won't over speed or over take while driving on flyovers. Barricades on side walls are a necessity as whenever such an incident happens, families of victims are devastated," said Mourya, adding that lack of police presence on roads is also encouraging over-speeding.