17 October,2010 07:52 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
More than 30 pedestrians have lost their lives while trying to cross the Western Express (WE) highway between Bandra and Dahisar, in the last six months, thanks to the Public Works Department (PWD), which did not barricade the median of the road, despite several letters from the Traffic Police Department.
Blame the PWD
A rising number of pedestrians are losing their lives while crossing the
Western Express highway. Pic/ Sameer Markande
To save the lives of pedestrians who cross the highway, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has been constructing foot-over bridges (FOB) at various stretches between Dahisar and Borivali.
"Pedestrian safety is foremost on our agenda. We've spent Rs 25 crore on the construction of nearly 15 FOBs ufffd six on the Eastern Express highway and nine on the WE," said Dilip Kawatkar, joint project director of MMRDA.
Unfortunately, most pedestrians don't use the FOBs because they find it quicker to reach the other side by crossing the highway.
DCP (Traffic) Nandkumar Chougle told Sunday Mid Day that he has written several letters to PWD, which is in charge of the WE highway. "From January to August, the number of pedestrian road-crossing accidents on the WE highway has risen. We requested the PWD to install barricades along the median, so that pedestrians were left with no option but to take the FOBs."
Manda Pure, chief engineer of PWD, said, "We've received letters from the Traffic Police and have already sent a proposal to the government demanding funds for installing the barricades."
Traffic Police accident data for the WE highway (Bandra-Dahisar) for January to August 2010 reveals that 54 people lost their lives in accidents, of which more than 20 were hit by vehicles while crossing the road.
A traffic police official, on condition of anonymity, said, "The chances of a pedestrian's survival are slim because the vehicles travel at high speed on the highway. In most cases, it's the pedestrian's fault because they don't use the FOBs which are safer."
