‘Poor road design taking lives on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway’

Yashwant Pachalkar, who runs a garage in the area, points to the accident spot. Pic/Hanif Patel

Faulty road engineering led to the fatal crash involving Cyrus Mistry, former head of Tata Group, spokesperson of All India Vahan Chalak Malak Mahasangha Harbans Singh Nanade has alleged. A Mercedes carrying Mistry and three others hit a road divider on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway near the Charoti flyover on Sunday, killing him and another person.

"The width of the southbound lane on Charoti flyover is 10.50 metres, which is narrowed down to 7-metre on the bridge which is built over Surya River. What kind of road engineering is this? The lane is also serpentine and the person behind the wheel cannot see the L-shaped death trap which gynaecologist [Dr Anahita Pandole] dashed into," said Nanade.

Also read: The ‘V' and ‘L' on the road that claimed Cyrus Mistry's life

"Motorists coming from Gujarat often prefer taking the right arm of the bridge as the left arm is very confusing," said Nanade. "A new driver often misjudges the blackspot and hits the L-shaped death trap. Its length is not visible to the driver. The NHAI has not put any warning signs," Nanade.

Yashwant Pachalkar, who runs a garage a few meters away from the accident site, said he rushed to the spot and saw four people unconscious in the Mercedes. "The driver and a person next to her had put on their seatbelts, while the two in the rear seats had not tied theirs. The airbags of front seats had inflated."