17 December,2022 08:23 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
Hawkers at a turn on the Mumbai-Pune highway
The RTO has now trained its guns on hawkers and stalls lining the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the old highway, as part of its safety campaign on the stretch. Officials have started evicting them, given the danger to human lives due to their proximity to moving vehicles, particularly at turns.
The Regional Transport Office (RTO) launched an all-out campaign against all kinds of violators on the route on December 1. Teams of RTO officials have counselled and fined around 1,660 vehicle owners between December 1 and 13.
"The campaign has been covering various aspects of safety. All offences, including parking along the highway, lead to accidents. Hawkers with their carts, shops and stalls located on the highway, including at turns, not only gather crowds, but also block the road. While patrolling, we have been asking them to get away from the highway stretches," a senior transport official said.
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The RTO officials said that with roads blocked by carts and stalls, particularly at turns, there is a risk to the lives of hawkers as well as the motorists and passengers.
"One vehicle stops at the shop, then another and the line keeps on increasing and so does the crowd of people who get down from these vehicles. For this very reason, the shops and hawkers along the highway are a threat to people's safety," he added.
The six-month drive is being conducted 24x7, and 30 RTO officials from Mumbai, Panvel, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad offices with their interceptor vehicles are keeping an eye on violators.
The RTO has focused on the Mumbai-Pune stretch for the drive, as the latest statistics show that 88 people died in 200 road mishaps on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in 2021. Between January and October this year, 68 people have died in 168 accidents.
68
No. of lives lost in road mishaps from Jan-Oct
168
No. of accidents that took place from Jan-Oct
1,660
No. of vehicle owners counselled, fined in past 13 days
