Nashik traffic police mull patrolling Indiranagar flyover to avert snarls

NASHIK: The traffic department of the city police is planning to patrol the 6.2km flyover connecting the Indiranagar Jogging Track to the Meenatai Thackeray Stadium near the Adgaon naka to monitor accidents on the elevated structure.
Officials said that in case of an accident on the flyover, vehicles taking the elevated structure over the highway to bypass traffic may get stranded for hours if they are unaware of the mishap.Besides, once a vehicle takes the elevated corridor, there is hardly any scope to take a U-turn and leave the flyover.
On Thursday, a collision between a truck and a car on the flyover disrupted traffic for nearly half-an-hour. While no complaint was registered with the police, the officials were forced to think of alternatives to avoid inconvenience to the motorists.
Assistant commissioner of police of the city traffic department Prashant Wagunde said, "The issue of patrolling the flyover will be taken up with senior police officials. In the event of an accident on the flyover, motorists would be instructed on taking the highway beneath the elevated corridor. Otherwise, the motorists will end up taking the flyover, only to later discover that the road is blocked due to the accident and they have no scope to turn back as vehicles are already piling up behind them."
Bhavesh Wagh, a resident of Nashik Road, said that he had come across a similar situation at Nashik Road on Tuesday at the flyover there. "The police had blocked one side of the Nashik Road flyover from the Sinnar side on Tuesday evening due to the processions on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar. Thus, vehicles coming from Sinnar Phata took the same lane of the flyover was used by vehicles moving towards Sinnar Phata from Datta Mandir."
He added, "A few vehicles from Sinnar side ended up blocking the entire road to overtake other vehicles, only to find vehicles also coming from the opposite side. As a result there was a complete traffic jam for over 45 minutes with motorists finding no way to go from the elevated structure. Such a situation may also arise at the time of an accident on elevated structures. Efforts must be made to avert such situations."
Mukesh Pasbola, a resident of DGP Nagar, said, "There are a large number of gas tankers moving from the highway which take the flyover. One can only imagine the chaos it would create if there were a mishap involving a gas tanker and a possible gas leakage. The only option in such situations would be to jump from the elevated corridor. The police need to seriously think of measures to avert such a situation instead of waiting for a mishap to happen."