More than a dozen pedestrians lost their lives and several more were injured in the last one-and-half year here while crossing the road in haste, knocked down by vehicles cruising at high speed.
It seems that pedestrians crossing the high speed concrete lanes of the 13-km stretch of the Pune-Mumbai National Highway-4, from Nigdi to Dapodi, have not learnt their lessons.
More than a dozen pedestrians lost their lives and several more were injured in the last one-and-half year here while crossing the road in haste, knocked down by vehicles cruising at high speed.
Visit the spot to see how pedestrians, including officer goers, students and industrial workers hurriedly jump the divider and scramble to reach the other end of the wide road. Sadly, the pedestrians seldom utilise the infrastructure that the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has created for their use.
The PCMC has constructed three underground pedestrian subways near Big Bazaar in Chinchwad, Fugewadi octroi post and Mega Mart in Dapodi. Similarly, it set up four foot overbridges (FoBs) in Vallabhnagar, Kharalwadi, Pimpri and Chinchwad. These subways and FoBs are only 600 metres away from each other.
According to traffic police records, about a dozen pedestrians have lost their lives attempting to illegally cross NH-4.
“The most vulnerable spots are in Nigdi, Chinchwad, Kharalwadi and Vallabhnagar. Here the pedestrians are in hurry to cross the road to reach bus stops, railway stations or markets,’’ police officials said, arguing that it is impossible to constantly monitor that road to prevent them crossing the road.
“Pedestrians should be aware of the grave danger of crossing that road without using the subways or the FoBs,’’ said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Prashant Mohite.
According to some of the motorists using the road, the traffic police and the civic body must take strict action against those crossing the roads instead of using the subways or the FoBs.
However, a resident of Chinchwad and a student, Ketan Patel, told DNA that pedestrians, especially senior citizens, avoid using the FoBs since they have to climb about 70 steps.
“I know of many women and children who are fearful of using the FoBs because they have to climb many steps. Many people do not even know that such pedestrian-friendly infrastructure exists. The civic body should put proper signages informing people about these facilities for pedestrians,’’ Patel suggested.
Some time ago, the traffic police had suggested to the PCMC to put up a chain link fence along the 13-km stretch to prevent pedestrians from crossing the high-speed concrete lanes.
“We have made a provision of Rs35 lakh for the project and have installed fencing in some major spots like Kharalwadi and Kasarwadi. Work on the remaining part of the stretch will be completed in due course of time,’’ said the engineering department coordinator of the civic body, Dilip Kudule.
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