Mishap on Vashi bridge holds up traffic ‘Inquire about increase in hospital beds’

ONE DEAD A dumper hit a bike, running over the pillion rider; the driver was arrested; normal traffic resumed by noon

A 43-year-old woman pillion rider was killed after a dumper hit the motorcycle she was riding on, on Friday.

The accident on Vashi creek bridge that took place around 10am, the peak time when the office-goers are travelling to their workplace, led to a massive traffic snarl stretching up to Vashi.

The police have arrested the dumper driver.

Dinesh Kumar and his wife Bhagwanti, residents of Sanpada, were going to a Jain temple in Govandi on their bike when the accident took place.

Assistant police inspector Anand Patil of Vashi police station said, “When they were on the Vashi creek bridge, they were hit from behind by a dumper. Dinesh lost control of his bike.”

He added, “Both fell and Bhagwanti came under the wheel of the dumper and died. Dinesh, who was injured was rushed to a hospital.”

Dinesh was angry and he the damaged the dumper by breaking the window panes.

The accident led to traffic on the bridge coming to a halt during the peak hours. The traffic Sion-Panvel Highway was chock-a-block with vehicles till Mankurd octroi naka on Friday morning.

jam extended up to the Centre One area of Vashi as vehicles moved at a snail’s pace on the creek bridge. Normal traffic was resumed by noon.

The accident led to traffic

coming to a virtual halt on the Sion-Panvel highway stretch from Sanpada-Vashi area up to Mankhurd. There was also another minor accident reported on the bridge later.

Sumeet Desai, a motorist, said, “Due to the accident, the dumper was stuck on the bridge for quite some time. The vehicles passing by were left with just one lane.”

He added, “While that led to a domino effect on the traffic behind, there were also some motorists who were curious and stopped to inquire about the accident. This led to further problems.”

A traffic police officer said, “Though we were stretched the previous night due to the immersion bandobast, our personnel rushed to the spot on getting the news of the accident.”

He added, “We did our best to keep the traffic moving. It was the peak office time and hence there was a huge rush. There were also several vehicles returning from far-off places after Ganeshotsav. This multiplied the number of vehicles on the highway.”

The officer said, “We managed to get the traffic moving within a couple of hours after removing the dumper from the accident spot.”

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) standing committee hit out at the administration on Wednesday on their decision to increase the number of beds in the three new civic hospitals.

The standing committee members questioned the administration on not taking the standing committee or the general body into confidence before deciding to increase the number of beds.

Chairman of the standing committee Shivram Patil said, “Why did the administration not inform us of this development? There are doubts of corruption in the hospital projects. There should be a thorough inquiry into it.”

The three NMMC hospitals in Airoli, Nerul and CBD Belapur, have been in the making for the over six years. The NMMC has spent crores on constructing these new hospitals. However, despite several years of construction, the hospitals are yet to start functioning.

Only the outpatient department is functional now.

The civic body had planned 250 beds for the hospitals, 100 each at Airoli and Nerul and 50 at CBD Belapur.

However, in the standing committee meeting on Wednesday, the administration introduced a resolution in which it stated that the hospitals will have 300 beds.

Patil objected to it. He said, “When was the permission taken for the additional beds? Who took this decision? How come none of us know about it?”

Not satisfied with the administration’s reply, Patil said, “This seems to have been done on the orders of some political leader. There is a possibility of corruption here.”

He then ordered a detailed inquiry into the matter and asked for the report to be submitted to the civic body’s standing committee.

BACHCHAN KUMAR