Due to the absence of the board a police van hit a 22-year-old, on a motor-cycle, on Wednesday.
Absence of 'No Entry' signboards on the Bund Garden side of the Yerawada Bridge could easily confuse vehicle drivers approaching the bridge from Bund Garden side, and lead to mishaps like the one that took place on Wednesday.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Pune traffic police have failed to put up such boards as a precautionary measure.
Only a 'no-right turn' signboard is placed at the approach road from the Bund Garden side preventing motorists to take the road towards Koregaon Park.
A Railway Police van, driven by a police driver Ashwini Kekane, entered the wrong lane of the bridge about 4:30 pm last Wednesday. She entered the lane meant for vehicles approaching Bund Garden Chowk from Yerawada and hit a 22-year-old, Vinayak Bhismakarma, who was on a motorcycle. The youth is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Assistant police inspector Prakash Raskar (traffic) said the signboard has not been put up in the absence of notification. The Yerawada Bridge is one-way with vehicles proceeding towards Yerawada using the old lane and the other two new lanes for vehicles approaching Bund Garden and Koregaon Park from Yerawada.
Raskar told DNA that at times, especially during peak hours and evenings, the police allow vehicles moving towards Yerawada from Bund Garden because of traffic congestion.
"There have been instances when vehicles are stranded till Pune Central Mall and Hotel Blue Diamond. So to ease congestions, we allow vehicles to use one lane meant for vehicles coming from the Yerawada side. We inform our counterparts manning the traffic at Parnakuti Chowk about it," he said.
According to the traffic police officials, it had allowed movement of vehicles during that time of the day on Wednesday when the accident took place.
A spot inspection by DNA on Thursday found that the said police van was proceeding against the flow of traffic coming from Yerawada. There was insignificant presence of traffic police at both sides of the bridge to control and monitor the heavy traffic.
The Yerawada Police said it would register a case against Kekane after examining the CCTV footages at the Parnakuti Police Chowki and witnesses statements.
Senior police inspector Deepak Sawant told DNA, "We have taken the statements of the victim and the constable. The victim doesn't have the driving licence."
The Yerawada Police have recorded the mishap as an accidental case.
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