[vnabhi]

Gosh, I missed this thread as I was away on a holiday. My heart reaches out to those poor souls, who had such a tragic accident.

I started reading from page 1 , and believe me, it was like reading a suspense novel. The expert opinion of someone who said that all cell phones being dead at the same time could point to water immersion turned out to be true, though it is horrifying to know that this is not fiction, but a real tragedy!

Sajo's pictures on this page and his assumptions seem to have nailed the cause. It is the most probable cause of how the accident happened. May their souls rest in peace!

I showed this thread to my kids (both are car drivers) just to educate them on the hazards of our highways, and the dangers of night-driving.

[Zed]

Originally Posted by sajo

- Did the two railings of the the bridges create an illusion of the space between the two bridges being the bridge itself ? Couple this with the diversion sign and the darkness.

This seems like a distinct possibility looking at it from where the photo was clicked. Specially if the misplaced diversion sign led the driver to veer off the road into the no-mans land in between the two lanes.
If the wreakage of the car has no visible damage - other than those resulting from the impact with water it certainly points in this direction. What a crying shame if this is indeed the reason behind this accident. Or can this even be termed an accident in the first place, from the point of view of the victims ?

RIP Victims and my thoughts are with the loved ones that they left behind.

I suppose expecting NHAI to investigate the matter would be wishful thinking.

[RX135]

I often drive on this road. And every time I drive, my blood boils with this joke that is called a "Toll Highway". They probably charge highest toll amount for this stretch of road and it's the worst maintained of all. It's a daylight robbery but sadly, other than politicos raking up the issue for own good, no one is bothered.

I do not know if the road was cause of the mishap or whether it was human error, but I'll be least surprised if it's because of road.

The road has potholes, broken patches, non-existent lane markings and shoulder markings, uneven undulating surface and absolutely pathetic safety measures. For almost a month, 2-3 km patch bypassing Satara is dug up and it's worse that dirt road. That entire patch is made purely of gravel. And, we pay highest Toll for such "National High Way".

Last year, my car's V rated tubeless tyre burst, thanks to a huge pothole on this highway (No, I wasn't speeding and was around 60kmph). I consider myself lucky, since I later read that, another car lost both front tyres as it went into a huge ditch ON the road.

Every time I travel on this road, I see one or two serious accidents. I sometimes wish that, NHAI and other responsible authorities as well highway contractor are sued for culpable homicide.

[MaxTorque]

Ms.Vinita Deshmukh, Consulting Editor of Moneylife, A Personal Finance Magazine has done an article on the above said incident. She has added some images of the accident site, which clearly show the pathetic condition of the Highway.


The road is built by M/s Reliance Infra. The irony is, the company has received BSI certificate for this road.

Some excerpts from Reliance's website,

“Six laning of NH-4 between Pune and Satara of length 140km in the state of Maharashtra.The concession period of the project is 24 years. This project is along the main corridor connecting Mumbai and Pune to southern parts of Maharashtra and all Southern states of India. The project scope in addition to six laning includes construction of 53 major structures and 240km of service road all along the entire corridor…’’

Now an NGO, The Nav Bharat Nagarik Manch has taken up the issue in order that the NHAI and the Reliance Infra do not get away with murder. The Manch is sending a letter today to Oscar Fernandes, union minister for road, transport and highways, demanding immediate suspension of NHAI project director Rajesh Kaundal; stopping toll collection until services are improved and blacklisting and terminating contract of Reliance Infra.
Please read the full story here. I think it's worth reading.

Hope babus will look into this and will hold officials accountable for such shoddy job.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Ms.Vinita Deshmukh, Consulting Editor of Moneylife, A Personal Finance Magazine has done an article on the above said incident. She has added some images of the accident site, which clearly show the pathetic condition of the Highway.

Thanks for posting this. Vinita is a senior from my school, and is known to be a firebrand editor. I'll send her a congratulatory email.

But in one of the pictures, I see some vertical bars. Have they been put up after the accident?

[prateekm]

Yes, they have been put up after the accident. Yesterday, when I passed this site from the opposite side (towards Pune), I could see the opening which is marked as 'death trap' in the above pic to be sealed in a similar way (using sand filled gunny bags). Sadly it is too late though. The entire highway after Kolhapur is uneven and pathetically maintained, they should learn a thing or two from their Karnataka counterparts.

[MaxTorque]

The consultant who studied the safety aspects of the accident site held the driver responsible for the accident. An abstract of the report from Times Of India.

The report, which the road safety consultant has submitted to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has held the driver responsible for the accident and has gone on to pat NHAI's back for the safety measures in place at and near the accident site.

Most of must have expected the outcome of the study well in advance.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

The consultant who studied the safety aspects of the accident site held the driver responsible for the accident. An abstract of the report from Times Of India.

The report, which the road safety consultant has submitted to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has held the driver responsible for the accident and has gone on to pat NHAI's back for the safety measures in place at and near the accident site.

Most of must have expected the outcome of the study well in advance.

Absolutely ridiculous! This country is run by crooked people is what this report proves and nothing else. I still have a hope that they will at least put a barricade to close the gap between the bridges.

[vnabhi]

This is outrageous. Most of these reports are standard: blame the driver always. This is how they (govt authorities) shirk responsibility and get away with impunity.

I'll bring this to the notice of Vinita, who'd sent me a response that she'd taken it up with the Ministry of Surface Transport.

Thanks for updating this thread.

[Chetan_Rao]

That makeshift excuse for a barrier isn't going to stop anything coming at it even at a moderate speed. Given the pathetic state of the bridge itself visible in the pics, I guess it's too much to expect the idiots of NHAI (or whoever is responsible for that highway) to do something more long-lasting.

[arun_josie]

Had it been kids of some Ministers/VIPs, the outcome of this report would have been other way round.

This is what happened when a ministers son died due to a badly designed speed breaker in chennai.

Scramble to mend speed breakers after death of minister’s son, http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle3574010.ece

[F150]

Any update on the construction of barrier between the bridges ?

[vnabhi]

I forwarded this update to Vinita Desmukh last night, and she responded saying that she is actively pursuing the case as convener of Nav Bharat Nagrik Manch. She says a team has been deputed to take pictures and collect data along the 300 kms of the highways that pass through Maharashtra. She also forwarded a press release on the subject, as below:

"NAV BHARAT NAGARIK MANCH
Press Release
Dt: 27th November, 2013

Headline: RTI revelation: All major bridges from Dehu Road to Satara need crash barriers for safety says contractor


PS Toll Roads Private Ltd, the subsidiary agency of Reliance Infra has sent a letter to Project Director, NHAIon November 25, stating that raising and strengthening of the Median wall (wall in between the two bridges) to the height of the Crash Barrier, is required for all the 6 major bridges between Dehu Road and Satara and not only for the Neera Bridge. This was revealed through the documents procured under RTI Act by Vinita Deshmukh and other members of Nav Bharat Nagarik Manch, this morning from the NHAI office at Warje.

The major bridges which need urgent repairs, in the light of the terrible tragedy of November 2, where 4 ad professionals died, have been identified by the contractor as Pawana Bridge, Mula Bridge, Mutha Bridge, Krishna river bridge, Venna river bridge and Neera River bridge. Repairs have also been recommended for a series of culverts and small bridges.


Vinita Deshmukh, convener of the Nav Bharat Nagarik Manch stated that, the letter written by Nagendra Rai, officer of the PS Toll Roads Pvt Ltd to Mr Rajesh Kaundal, Project Director, admits that all the major bridgesand some of the culverts are ``unsafe’’ for commuters. The letter states, ``you are aware that gap between allexisting minor/major bridges and slab culvert is not properly closed by cras barrier or extending medial wall up to the level of crash barrier and same is leading to unsafe situation for the traffic.’’

Nav Bharat Nagarik Manch is shocked that there is no urgency shown regarding the repair of the Neera Bridge despite the most horrendous tragedy of November 2. Instead, the NHAI Pune has washed its hands up stating that such a decision can be taken only by the Delhi office of NHAI. The reason being the statement in the letter in which Rai states, ``As per schedule B of Concession Agreement, no scope is defined for improvement/strengthening of the median walls for all existing major/minor bridges and slab culverts.’’ This in effect means, that the Reliance Infra’s subsidiary agency, PS Toll Roads Pvt Ltd, is asking NHAI to provide the funds. NHAI Pune in turn says they are not the authority and so the letter has been sent to “Delhi.


In the end, Nav Bharat Nagarik Manch is appalled that the final victims are citizens. It has begun the process of procuring documents under RTI to file a PIL.

For more details: Vinita Deshmukh – 98230 36663.


Nav Bharat Nagarik Manch held a demonstration in front of the NHAI office before procuring documents under RTI. Nav Bharat members DVR Rao, Commander Ravindra Pathak (retd), Raja Narsimhan, Mahesh Tele, Omkar Virkar, Dhananjay Oval, Akash Jadhav, Mrs Sonawane, Hrushikesh Patankar and Prashan "

[Mr.Beat]

Absolute tragic!

Mom's are always right! Never every do a overnight journey driving unless it is a emergency.

Yes, the contractor and the driver both are to blame for this. I might draw some flak here but it was the driver's responsibility to be alert and aware considering Indian road conditions.

The contractor is also at fault for the poor design of the bridge and leave a mammoth gap in between which proved fatal.

I don't understand why the contractors rake in so much money but do not even care about lives of the people who will use it.

This is the condition of most of the roads in India. M-P expressway is not a exception to this