Horror on Samruddhi Mahamarg: Video exposes how RTO officers caused accident

A video captured by the cleaner of the lorry involved in the crash on the Samruddhi Mahamarg on Sunday shows that a patrol team of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) had brought the vehicle to a halt in the middle lane, causing a mini-bus to ram into it, leading to the loss of 12 lives.

Sources said that the lanes on the highway are split as per the speed at which the vehicles are driven and the lorry was stopped in the lane where vehicles travel at 80 kmph. RTO officials were patrolling in the vehicle provided by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and they were asked to keep a vigil in the night as drivers tend to overspeed after sunset but they should not have stopped the vehicle in the middle of the expressway.

The accident happened at midnight and claimed the lives of 12. Pic/PTI

Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar told mid-day that the entire episode was being investigated. "Well, it is agreed that the vehicle was not supposed to be halted in the middle of the expressway, but our officials said they stopped it as they found the truck driver driving haphazardly. The police, the passengers, our staff all have their versions and the matter is being investigated thoroughly," he said.

Jitendra Gupta of the Citizen Transport Committee said, "We are living in a time where there is technology for the implementation of rules and laws. If there is any breach of law, technology can easily capture it via high-definition sensitive cameras and the offender can be punished after registering a case. But this way, the army of policemen or RTO officials operating on the road could lose their chance to take bribes for not registering cases. This could be the reason why the RTO official waved his hand to stop the lorry. If an RTO official or policeman asks a driver to stop and they don't, they might be imposed a hefty bribe or fine. So, no driver would dare to proceed once he is asked to stop. The accident indicates that the RTO staff on the road are under-trained and need proper training concerning fast-moving traffic on the expressway. Just building a high-speed expressway is not enough. The ground staff also need to be properly trained."

A V Shenoy, senior transport expert with Mumbai Mobility Forum and Mumbai Vikas Samiti, said, "Do we expect anything from the enquiry when RTO officials themselves are involved? The case will drag on and be forgotten over time. What has happened to the Balasore railway accident involving three trains?"

Had tried to stamp out corruption: Mahesh Zagade

Maharashtra's former transport commissioner Mahesh Zagade rued the fact that deep-rooted corruption has spoilt the transport department. "Corruption in the RTO, among many reasons, is responsible for such accidents. In order to improve this system, as transport commissioner, I proposed comprehensive administrative reforms in 2015 to change the structure of one department to reduce corruption, determine responsibilities of officers regarding accidents etc. The proposal had been submitted to the government.

Forget implementing it, I was refused even a copy of it when I followed up later," he said. Zagade added, "By informing the state government about how much money was shamelessly collected every year by all RTO offices in Maharashtra through brokers, I made RTO offices completely free of brokers in 2015. What was the need for brokers? Also, to avoid road accidents, one needs to go beyond politics and implement preventative measures."

Oct 15
Day mishap occurred