Tourist drivers avoid ‘narrow’ ghat; NCP leader says it is dangerous, has no protective railings
The road is maintained and is eight metres wide. (But) there is no heavy traffic on this route as there are various (other) options to travel. VIJAY SURYAVANSHI, district collector, Raigad district
PUNE: The Ambenali ghat in Raigad district which witnessed a horrific road accident on Saturday morning with a mini-bus falling into a gorge does not have heavy traffic.
According to professional tourist drivers, it is often used by people driving down from Chiplun and Ratnagiri.
Ambenali ghat is a 40 km-long winding ghat on state highway 72 and connects Poladpur in Raigad district to Mahabaleshwar in Satara district. This ghat has many hairpin turns and steep slopes. According to trekis kers, this ghat was protected by Pratapgad fort and also had the tomb of Afzal Khan en route to Mahabaleshwar.
Although this road is well maintained by the public works department (PWD), many of the Pune daily tourist drivers avoid taking this route while going towards Ratnagiri or Ganpatipule. “Ambenali ghat is very scenic and has thick dense forest on one side and a mountain on another. “It is a very narrow ghat and therefore most of us don’t prefer to use this ghat as it is a very long ghat with many turns and without places to stop or halt. It is also dangerous as the ghat has no protective railing at all,” said Dynaneshwar Shelke of Mauli Travels.
Vijay Suryavanshi, district collector, Raigad, said that he often uses the ghat.
“The road is maintained and 8 metres wide. (But) there is no heavy traffic on this route as there are various (other) options to travel,” he said. Politicians from opposition parties have already begun blaming the government for not providing good road infrastructure.
NCP MLA Sanjay Kadam said, “The roads at Ambenali ghat did not have any railings. Had there been strong enough railings, which should have been there in the first place, such fatal accidents could have been avoided saving many lives. State government is also responsible for deaths of innocent people caused by the accident.”