One tragedy exposes all that’s wrong with e-way

Nagpur-based Vidarbha Travels carrying a total of 33 passengers was en route Pune from Nagpur, when the driver hit a four-feet-tall pole. The impact of the collision caused the bus to hit the divider and overturn. The bus caught fire soon after

The death of 25 passengers who were charred completely after the private transport bus they were traveling on crashed into a median barrier and caught fire has put into sharp focus everything that is wrong with the new regime of road planning in India.

The Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg, which is operational till Nashik, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons ever since it was partially thrown open to traffic.

In the first days, it was a spate of wildlife deaths, as not enough arrangements had been made for their safe passage.

Then, the highway started claiming human lives. The reasons were multiple - highway hypnosis leading to single-vehicle crashes, bad road design leading to collisions and finally, the high speed limit of 120 kmph meant that motorists were pushing their poorly maintained cars beyond the capabilities of their shoddy rubbers, resulting in tyre bursts, causing high-speed crashes.

Even during the current tragic accident in the wee hours of Saturday, those first on the scene claim that the Quick Response Team was painfully late, meaning that everyone trapped inside the bus were burned to a crisp before help could arrive.

Last but not least is the often overlooked risk factor in sleeper coaches, which do not leave any escape exits for those in the upper "sleeper" boxes.

It is high time the authorities lowered the speed restrictions on this six-lane road, took remedial action to break the highway hypnosis, organised better emergency response and cracked down on sleeper coaches, once they are done with their favourite pastime of oath-taking and portfolio allocation.