In a road mishap, a 35-year-old man was seriously injured as an unknown vehicle hit him near the Kali Mandir on Marine Drive under Sonari police station area on Sunday morning. The injured whose identity could not be ascertained yet has been admitted at the MGM Medical College Hospital emergency where his condition is said to be critical. OC, Sonari police station Anuj Kumar confirmed about the mishap.
"We are investigating the mishap. The mishap took place, while there were very thin traffic on the marine drive. No one saw the mishap, but from the kind of mishap it appeared that the victim who was on foot might have been hit by a speeding car or a pick-up van," said the officer-in-charge.
Kumar said a patrolling team while doing their round found the man falling in a pool of blood and he was rushed to the medical college hospital immediately. A resident of Sonari who was on his morning walk on the marine drive said that police would have missed the injured man lying on the side of the marine drive. But he raised his voice to stop the van.
The joggers demanded proper police patrolling on that ring road particularly in the morning and evening whey people including elderly ones go to the marine drive for walking as well as jogging.
Notably, the 9-Kms-long marine drive has turned accident prone road as there is no regular patrolling and speed limit check. The road being smooth and widened, the vehicles, including car, trucks and even two-wheelers ply at a top speed.
Concerned over rising cases of road mishaps in city, the District police have also decided to impose restriction on movement of dumpers through residential areas during late night as they pose a menacing effect on other commuters. Such heavy vehicles will be strictly allowed to ply through the Marine drive and a few routes identified by the administration.
"We are concerned over the rising cases of mishaps. We want to stream line the traffic movement.
The dumper operators will have to drivethrough the Marine Drive and certain routes which will be identified by the administration. No other route will be allowed for the plying.
The violation of this route will be punishable," said an official. He said he would carry out a survey and fix the route shortly. The district transport office figures suggest that the city currently absorbs around 40,000 vehicles, including 25,000 two-wheeler, annually on the streets. And the district traffic police records say 147 people died in 315 road accidents last year.