As fatal accidents continue on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, a comprehensive emergency response system comprising a casualty evacuation mechanism, ambulance services and dedicated hospitals has remained absent since 2002 when the expressway was completed. Despite several promises by politicians and numerous reminders from the police, the entire project has been a non-starter, leading to a dismal response system that can very often make all the difference between life and death. In the latest Expressway accident on Monday near Khalapur, seven persons of a family were killed and three more injured after the SUV they were travelling in rammed into a truck. [related-post] Every year, the 94-kilometre stretch of the expressway between two cities witnesses 100 to 110 deaths in accidents. Manish Kunturkar, a regular commuter between Pune and Mumbai, says, “I was coming from Mumbai to Pune about three months ago and we saw a car which had rammed into the divider near Ozarde. One of the two persons sitting in the car was bleeding profusely. When we asked some of the people there, they told us that it had been over 20 minutes since they called the police. We used some towels we were carrying to stop the bleeding. The ambulance came about 45 minutes after the accident. One of them succumbed to injuries during treatment.” A member of the State Highway Patrol (SHP) said, “When we label a highway as expressway, it is expected that speed limits are higher than normal roads and hence higher the possibility of mishaps. It is mandatory for these roads to have medical response teams, dedicated hospitals, cutting tools to take out the injured from the cars if needed, fire brigades and disaster response teams in case of leakages or explosive or poisonous substances. None of this is in place.” “In case of a mishap, it is important that the injured are attended to by doctors or well-trained paramedics during the golden hour. There are several communications from the SHP to the state government and IRB (the company that has been awarded the contract of maintenance of the Expressway) asking for these facilities to be provided but no action has yet been taken. Promises are made before elections and nothing happens after that. If we are not giving these facilities, then speed limit should be reduced and the road should not be called an Expressway. But if it is done, toll charges would have to be reduced, which the IRB does not want,” he said. The work on the Expressway was completed in 2002. Arun Sabnis of Fulora Foundation, an NGO that has been working closely with government agencies on the issues of the Expressway, said, “IRB has some ambulances, but many of them are not working. Authorities have to depend on services by the Lokmanya Hospital in Nigdi and other local hospitals. A trauma care centre has been constructed at Ozarde, but it is not functioning due to lack of logistics. There was also a proposal for an air ambulance, but it is pending.” Sabnis added, “There are at least six agencies involved in this - SHP, RTO, IRB, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Public Works Department and Forest Department. It is important that all these agencies come together and work.” Officials of IRB and MSRDC did not answer calls despite several attempts.
