Cyrus Mistry death: 72 hours on, NHAI yet to put up warning signboard at mishap site

The accident spot on a southbound lane of the highway on Monday. Pic/Hanif Patel

The fatal accident involving Cyrus Mistry may have shocked the nation, but it hasn't spurred officials from the National Highways Authority of India to even visit the mishap site, which has been a blindspot on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway. Despite inputs by local authorities, NHAI is yet to put in place any safety measures to protect motorists on the busy carriageway. Mistry died on Sunday afternoon after his car hit the parapet of the bridge on Surya river.

In 2020, NHAI engaged a company to carry out a safety audit of the highway. Independent engineers associated with NHAI had assisted it but the blackspot, where Mistry, was not highlighted in the report. Harbans Singh Nanade, the spokesperson of All India Vahan Chalak Malak Mahasangh, slammed the national highway authority saying they are waiting for another disaster to happen.

"Though we have been raising this issue at regular intervals and apprised the competent authority to nullify the blackspot on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, NHAI officials are not willing to wake up. They have not pulled up their shocks even after the untimely death of Cyrus Mistry and his friend Jehangir Pandole," said Nanade.

Also read: Cyrus Mistry suffered multiple injuries, blunt thorax trauma: Hospital official

The mishap spot at Charoti, on Monday. Pic/Hanif Patel

The representative of the vehicle owners' body said they had expected NHAI would put rumbler strips, a signboard to warn drivers or at least use black and yellow paint to alert motorists. "Will NHAI officials wake up from their slumber? What are they waiting for? Are they waiting for more people to meet with an accident at the same spot?"

Nanade also raised what he called poor lighting on certain stretches of the highway, pointing reports that NHAI hasn't paid its electricity bills. "Are we paying the toll taxes to travel on a dark highway?" mid-day has been highlighting how the three lanes on the southbound Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway narrow down to two lanes ahead of Surya river bridge where an ‘L' shaped structure poses a threat to motorists.

Can't be fixed overnight

Suraj K Singh, NHAI's project director for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, said "changes (in the poorly designed road) cannot be done overnight". "The initial patch of the location where the accident took place has been partially barricaded. As you have mentioned about the ‘L' shape on the Surya river bridge, I would say the three lanes are gradually narrowed down to two lanes….I reinstate ‘gradually', there is no L-short of junction as such."

"Motorists have been given a decent distance of around 150 to 200 metres for entering from three lanes to two lanes," he said. When asked that 200 metres is nothing on a highway and the L-shaped spot poses a threat to motorists, he said, "We are planning for rumble strips to wake up drivers who might have dozed off at the wheel. We are also planning for reflectors on the road and warning signs."

Singh conceded that there are dangerous spots on the highway. "There are around 20 blackspots on the highway… its considerable. He said the site has no history of any accident. Asked how the L-shaped spot didn't figure in NHAI's 2020 safety audit, Singh said, "No, this spot was, probably, not identified in the audit report else the action must have been taken by NHAI."

"Our chairman is also concerned if the spot was declared as blackspot in the safety audit report…there are many internal discussions are underway. We have received a lot of directives from ministry after this accident," he added. About the lack of lighting, Singh said the power supplier did not send the bills in time. "By the time we received it, they had already submitted a notice and disconnected the power supply at a few locations."

Singh said they have roped in an international consultant to improve the carriageway. "The CEG has been asked to highlight the vulnerable points on the highway, where the chances of road accidents are high due to the poor road engineering, if any….they will also suggest to us the solutions to rectify any error."