Principal Secretary (Information) Navneet Sahgal, met with an accident when his car collided with another vehicle the Agra-lucknow Expressway in Unnao, critically injuring him and three others.
The mishap occurred when Sahgal was returning after an air show by the Indian Air Force in Bangarmau on Fridayafternoon. Sahgal along with others injured were immediately brought here at Trauma Centre where his condition is stated to be `stable’. Senior officers who reached the hospital claimed that Sahgal had suffered head injury and also a fracture. ``We conducted CT scan of Sahgal and found that he was completely out of danger”, confirmed Dr Ved Prakash, the spokesman of KGMU.
It may be mentioned that hours before the accident, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had warned against driving at high speed on the
state-of-the-art road. “I request you to drive on the expressway with caution and not exceed a speed limit of 100 kmph,” he said soon after
cabinet meeting, earlier on Friday morning. Akhilesh is scheduled to inaugurate the 302-km six-lane expressway - his dream project and the longest expressway in the country- on November 21.
Reports said that Sahgal, who is also Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), is closely associated with the record time construction of Agra-lucknow Expressway. On Friday, he attended an air show in Unnao and was returning state capital when his official car collided with a private car between Atiya and Inayatpur villages, under Auras police station area on Unnao. The officer has suffered injuries and has been rushed to the Trauma Centre at KGMU here, along with his driver, gunner, and two others who were in the private car. While host of senior officers which included advisor to chief minister Alok Ranjan visited the hospital, Akhilesh Yadav also likely to visit KGMU to enquire about Sahgal’s health.
The above Expressway been constructed by the UPEIDA to reduce traffic on congested roads and bring down pollution and carbon footprint. It has been completed in a record 22 months. A three-km long stretch on the expressway can double as runway and be used by jets for landing and take-off. Unlike other expressway inaugurations, as many as 11 IAF jets are likely to land and take off from the expressway during the inaugural show. The exercise is aimed at testing the quality of build of the expressway and would also go a long way in aiding Defence Ministry’s plan to use highways and expressways as possible landing and take-off strips during any emergency. The Chief Minister had recently taken a ride with his family members after the expressway was opened for him for his journey to his native village Saifai in Etawah.