PUNE: The Katraj-Kondhwa Road located in the southern part of the city, has become a gateway of accidental deaths. In the four km stretch between Katraj and Khadi Machine Chowk, 24 major accidents have taken place in a year resulting in 12 deaths.
These accidents have been recorded by the police and every day, minor accidents keep on happening. A local resident, Pravin Khaire, who stays close to the Iskcon Temple Chowk, said that a minor accident happens every day on the road.
From Katraj Chowk, the road goes up to Khadi Machine Chowk. From this chowk, the road goes in three directions. One road goes up to Undri-Pisoli, Mantarwadi and Hadapsar, second road goes via Bopdev Ghat to Saswad and the third road goes to Pune Camp area.
Heavy vehicles ply by this road regularly including vehicles like large trucks, tanker, container, dumper and vehicles having 16 and 18 wheels.
Necessary measures
1) Complete the road work soon
2) Increase the number of traffic cops
3) Appointment of traffic cops at various
chowks and at descent
4) Making drivers of heavy vehicles follow rules
5) Action against erring vehicles
6) Starting of one-way traffic
7) Filling up potholes
8) Instal speed breakers where necessary
9) Make efforts to control the speed of vehicles
10) Making efforts to prevent traffic jams
11) Instal speed breakers at descent and regulate traffic
12) Instal road dividers
Reasons for mishaps and traffic jams
1) Slow pace of road work
2) Absence of adequate number of traffic cops
3) Violation of rules by drivers of heavy vehicles
4) Careless driving by riders of vehicles
5) Potholes at many places
6) Rash driving
7) Absence of speed breakers
8) No speed breakers on descending roads
9) Absence of road dividers
There are traffic jams on this road from 9 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 10 pm and this causes a lot of inconvenience to riders of vehicles. As a result, a journey which takes five minutes, is completed in 45 minutes to one hour, local residents said.
