Speeding police jeep in BRTS lane hits teen

Pune: The ‘dedicated' Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor on Ahmednagar Road witnessed another accident on Wednesday when Akanksha Amit Dhanvij, 14, who was crossing the road at 9.30am, was knocked down by a police jeep travelling at high speed in the lane.
Akanksha is a standard VIII student at a Pune Municipal Corporation school in Yerawada. She stays with her grandmother in Yerawada village while her mother is in Ramwadi.She was walking to meet her mother and had scaled the railings of BRTS track to cross the road.
She was taken to the intensive care unit of Sahyadri Hospital where doctors said her condition is critical, but stable. "She is currently unconscious and has a swelling on the brain which will be managed with medicines. Surgical intervention is not needed," a doctor said.
Since the BRTS has started on Ahmednagar Road, the Airport police have registered four minor accidents on the route from Hyatt hotel's junction to Wagholi. Similarly, the Yerawada police station has registered six accidents, so far. Last year, a fatal accident was registered at Sangam Bridge-Deccan College corner.
Police inspector Vilas Sonde of Yerawada police station told TOI that the jeep is allotted to the Alankar police station. B G Misal, senior inspector of the Alankar police station, said the accident took place when the driver of the police vehicle Sandesh Waghmare was coming to pick him up.
"Waghmare claimed that the girl walked into the BRTS lane and in front of the vehicle. Before Waghmare could apply the brakes, he hit her. We immediately informed the Yerawada police station," Misal said.
Later, police impounded the jeep and questioned Waghmare .
Except for the buses, only emergency service vehicles are allowed to use the lane and only if they are going to attend to an emergency.
Deputy commissioner of police (cyber, economics) Deepak Sakore said police vehicles are allowed to take the BRTS route only during an emergency when the other lanes are not available for movement.
"We are verifying how this police vehicle entered the BRTS track," he added. Sonde said they have registered an offence against Waghmare for rash and negligent driving.
Activists want BRTS put on hold
Activists working for sustainable transport have demanded that in the interests of public safety, BRTS operations be suspended for now. They can resume after basic safety essentials are in place, they added.
When a TOI reporter and a photographer visited the BRTS route, the accident spot at Ramwadi station was still unguarded. Several pedestrians were seen jumping over the dividers in an attempt to save a few minutes and reach the BRTS station. Bikers, cars, tempos and other vehicles were freely using the lane which is strictly reserved for Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd buses.
Lalu Yadav, a guard at Yerawada BRTS station, said, "I am from Uttar Pradesh and I used to feel that drivers there don't obey traffic rules. But after seeing motorists here flouting even the most basic traffic rules, my impression has changed. It is worse here."
He added that he tries to stop private vehicles from entering BRTS lane. "Bike riders are the worst. When I spread my arms to stop them from entering the dedicated bus lane, they swiftly duck and speed away. I care about my life and don't chase them," he told TOI.
D S Sakat, another security guard, said, "I see so many police vehicles use the BRTS lane driving at high speed. On many occasions, I have tried stopping them but they always escape saying that they are on emergency duty. What am I supposed to do?"
Demand to make corridor safe
Civic activists have sent an email to officials to highlight the dangers on this BRTS route. In the email sent to municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar, and PMPML's chairman and managing director Abhishek Krishna, activists' groups including Pedestrian First said the conditions on the BRTS corridor are highly unsafe and they had cautioned against starting operations.
"There are serious deficiencies in the BRTS infrastructure. Even essentials like junction development, safe pedestrian crossings at junctions and intermediate locations, traffic calming measures, signage and road markings, appropriate traffic signal system, and proper illumination have not been provided. Effective enforcement is not place. Untrained drivers are being deployed for BRTS operations endangering the lives of commuters and other road users. Public safety is being totally compromised with and there is very high probability of more accidents," convener of Pedestrians First, Prashant Inamdar said. A committee comprising officials of PMC, PMPML, traffic police, Regional Transport Office, and activists who have studied BRTS should be constituted, so that basic essentials for bus operations are in place.
Association of Nagar Road Citizens' Forum conveners Qaneez Sukhrani and Ashish Mane have urged the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) headed by district collector Saurabh Rao to put the BRTS corridor on hold until all the essential safety measures are completed. They have also demanded a road-safety audit of the corridor.