In a recent report published by Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Road Safety (BIGRS) in collaboration with the Mumbai Traffic Police, the key findings highlighted that Western Express Highway (WEH) and Eastern Express Highway (EEH) have been identified as high risk corridors, according to the number of accidents reported from 2017 to 2019.
The report states that these two spots, WEH and EEH in Mumbai, continued to remain the most accident prone areas in the city wherein the number of accidents reported was 346 and 242 respectively from 2017 to 2019. Even as the report suggests the number of fatalities recorded on these stretches have decreased, over 118 and 57 road deaths were recorded in the same time period.
The report reveals that Ghatkopar-Mahul Road, Balasaheb Thackeray Flyover and Vasantdada Patil Marg have the highest fatality rates per kilometre. However, the Western Express Highway and Eastern Express Highway have recorded the highest fatal and serious injuries in the past three years. High risk corridor identification supports engineering and enforcement interventions like infrastructure treatment and speed management, stated the report.
In terms of fatalities, Ghatkopar-Mahul Road, which attaches for 1.36km, has reported 41 road deaths and injuries per kilometer, followed by Balasaheb Thackeray flyover (1.1km) with 15 fatalities between 2017 and 2019.
A senior traffic police official said, “If we analyse accidents in Mumbai, over-speeding and judgmental errors are major contributors. Also, there are many engineering shortcomings of the roads, ongoing Metro work which has left 20 per cent of the city roads dug up, has added to the existing trouble.”
The report also enlisted the high risk junctions in the city, which included the Amar Mahal and Godrej junctions on the EEH as the riskiest points over the past three years.
