On the morning of Sunday July 19, 2015, a catastrophic landslide took place on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The natural disaster happened near the entrance of the Adoshi tunnel (on the Mumbai-bound side), one of the many that carve through the mountainous terrain on the expressway.
At the time of the landslide, there was a Tata Indigo Manza and Skoda driving through the fateful zone. The heavy boulders tumbling down smashed into both the cars. According to Inspector Jaysinh Tambe of Raigad Police Station, the humongous boulders began falling from a height of 20 feet. The Tata Manza was heading towards the financial capital, and was crushed by a big boulder. Shashikant Dhamankar was behind the wheel of the Tata saloon car when the boulder impacted, killing him instantly. Dhamankar was accompanied by his mother and sister, both of whom sustained serious injuries as they fell out of the vehicle. The boulders also crossed over to the Pune-bound side of the E-way. Driving towards Pune was Dilip Patel, along with four other members of his family. Patel was gravely injured, while his mother-in-law sustained injuries too.
While Dhamankar was killed on the spot, a critical Patel and the rest of the injured were rushed to the Lokmanya Hospital in Nigdi, Pune. Three hours after reaching the hospital, Patel unfortunately succumbed to his injuries. Soon after the landslide, Ganpat Kudpane, a local resident rushed to the stricken sight to aid in the rescue efforts. The good samaritan paid for his noble gesture with his life, as a speeding car hit him and then sped away, apparently, towards Panvel. The police have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the hit-and-run driver of the unidentified car.
The debris from the landslide had lead to an intense traffic jam on both the sides of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. In fact, the road leading to Pune has been completely shut for traffic. Eknath Shinde, minister of the Maharashtra Public Works Development (PWD) arrived on the scene and said that the rescue and clean up action was affected because of inclement weather. The families that have been affected by this disaster will be awarded with Rs. 4 lakh by the Maharashtra Government.
Avoiding natural disasters entirely isn’t in the hands of us mere mortals, though, we can ensure that we keep a safe watch when driving through disaster-prone zones.
Image credits – Mid-Day