Nagpur: The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has summoned Shashikant Satav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Traffic, to provide details on the steps to be taken to address the issue of motorists in Nagpur driving in the wrong direction and jumping traffic signals.
The court has instructed DCP Satav to submit his response within two weeks. The hearing took place before Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Abhay Mantri on Wednesday. Despite installation of rumble strips at eight locations on the Dabha-Gorewada Ring Road, there has been no reduction in the speed of two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
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Friday 20 Dec. 2024
In response to the speeding vehicles, the court had previously directed DCP Satav to appear in person during the hearing on Wednesday. As per the order, DCP Satav was present during the seventh hearing. During the previous hearing, the petitioner had raised the issue of ineffectiveness of rumble strips installed on the Ring Road as two-wheelers and four-wheelers continued to speed. The petitioner asserted that motorists were even travelling in the wrong direction on the Ring Road.
In response to these claims, the High Court instructed the DCP Traffic to attend the hearing. The High Court further inquired about the measures taken by the respondents to prevent fatal accidents. Sandeep Badana, through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), advocated for the installation of rumble strips on the Dabha-Gorewada Ring Road to curb the rising number of fatal accidents. The petitioner had submitted two applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to the Department concerned mentioning that 247 accidents had occurred on the stretch of the Ring Road in Gittikhadan area over the last four years.
In these accidents, 42 civilians lost their lives while 67 others sustained serious injuries. Information obtained from NIT under the RTI Act disclosed the construction of 374 residential building schemes in the Dabha-Gorewada area of Gittikhadan between 2017 and 2022. Additionally, the area has three major schools which lead to a significant influx of students travelling from school to home along the Dabha-Gorewada Ring Road. In the light of these findings, the petitioner urged installation of rumble strips to prevent accidents.
Adv Badana presented the case while Adv Amit Madiwale represented the State and Adv Girish Kunte argued on behalf of NIT.
