Pune civic body installs new reflectors on ‘killer’ divider

Sandip Dighe The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has finally installed new reflectors on the ‘killer’ road divider at Shinde Chhatri Chowk near Wanavdi Bazaar area in Wanavdi.

The PCB has acted following the tragic death of city-based banker, Rangarajan Narasimhan, who died after his car hit the road divider on the night of September 3.

DNA in its report on September 5, ‘Road divider is a traffic hazard: cop’, had quoted the Wanavdi police as stating that four motorists had lost their lives in the past few months due to the absence of reflectors on the divider. The divider had been constructed by the PCB one year ago.

When contacted, KV Shirodkar, chief executive engineer, PCB, told DNA, “We had fitted reflectors after we constructed the divider, but they fell off following several accidents on this stretch. Following a recent letter from the police we installed new reflectors on the divider on Thursday. We are confident that these will prevent such accidents from taking place.”

A local resident, Vikas Chavan, told DNA that since the dividers did not have reflectors and cat’s eye, motorists found it very dangerous to traverse the road at night.

“If one is not cautious while driving, there is every possibility that a motorist would hit the road divider,” he said.

Senior police inspector of Wanavdi police station, BD Mohite, also confessed that the spot near the bazaar had become an accident-prone area due to the absence of reflectors on the dividers.