Pune: Movement of heavy vehicles stopped on various highways from 5 am to 9am

? Four Warkari women were killed and 23 others were injured after a vehicle rammed on their Alandi-bound group near Kanhe Phata in Sate gaon on the Old Mumbai Pune highway, in the early hours of Saturday.

FOLLOWING the deadly accident on Pune Mumbai Old Highway in which four women Warkaris were killed and 20 more were injured, the police have decided to stop the movement of heavy vehicles in the early hours of the day on various highways in Pune district used by Warkaris to go to Alandi for next five days.

Four Warkari devotees, all women, were killed and 23 others were injured after a vehicle rammed on their Alandi-bound group near Kanhe Phata in Sate gaon on the Old Mumbai Pune highway, in the early hours of Saturday.    The Warkaris from Khopoli, Karjat and Umbre in Raigad district were on their way to Alandi to attend Sant Dnyaneshwar’s Sanjeevan Samadhi ceremony scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

The decision to stop the movement of heavy vehicles from 5 am to 9 am was taken jointly by the State Highway Safety Patrol (HSP) and Pune Rural Police. Superintendent of Police with the Pune unit of HSP, Sanjay Jadhav said, “After consultation with all the stakeholders, we have decided to stop the movement of heavy vehicles from 5 am to 9 am on the highways used by the Warkaris from across the state to reach Alandi.” These restrictions will be applied to highways connecting Pune to Mumbai (only Old Highway), Nashik, Solapur, Ahmednagar and Satara.

Additional Superintendent of Police with Pune Rural police, Mitesh Ghatte said, “Primary probe in the accident on Saturday suggests that the driver of the vehicle was dozing off. The early hours of the day is when there is a high possibility of drivers of long-distance trucks dozing off. This is also the time of the day when Warkaris start walking from their places of halt. The Sanjeevan Samathi ceremony will take place on Tuesday and then for the next three days, the Warkaris will march back to their homes across Maharashtra. During this period, the heavy vehicles will be barricaded from 5 am to 9 am at particular points on the highways.”

Source: Read Full Article