Mumbai: Lakshmi Nagar junction, where boy was run over is a death trap

A day after a school bus ran over sixyearold Ashok Murugan and his brother Suresh Murugan feeble attempts to control the traffic on the notorious Lakshmi Nagar junction have begun While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC chief has promised the local corporator in writing that the work for a vehicular subway will start in three months nothing has been said about a pedestrian underpass yetThe Lakshmi Nagar junction on the GhatkoparAndheri Link road is notorious for accidentsRakhi Jadhav a local corporator who has been fighting for the subway since the last three years said the issue of people dangerously crossing the road has been caused entirely due to the negligence and apathy of officialsIn the absence of a subway or a skywalk the locals risk life and limb to get to the other side of the road PicsPradeep DhivarldquoBMC officials have been giving a million reasons Since the last three years they are saying that there is a Metro corridor and a railway bridge nearby so we have to take NOCs from both But files are not going ahead at all BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has given it in writing that the work for a vehicular subway will start in three months We will wait and seerdquo said JadhavIneffective breakerAround 3 pm on Thursday afternoon the Murugan brothers were returning from their school in Lakshmi Nagar After leaving from school they crossed the GhatkoparAndheri Link Road to catch a bus from the other side to go homeA tea vendor who sits right opposite the accident spot said that the school bus didnrsquot stop at all even while the children were crossing Ashok died in the accidentldquoThey didnrsquot have any elder with them They climbed the stairs came to the road and started crossing There is a speed breaker right behind the spot where the incident took place but itrsquos so low that a vehicle hardly slows down The bus just rammed into themrdquo he saidA day after the incident when midday visited the spot two traffic constables were standing at the spot Speaking to midday one of them said that they can barely stop people from crossing the road since no one listenslsquoOnly a subway can helprsquoHowever they were seen spending more time just watching people cross rather than intervening in the matter When asked about it one of them said ldquoWhat can we do Neither the vehicles stop nor do the people Everyone is in a hurry and they donrsquot listen to us Only a subway can help the situationrdquoResidents also said that the spot has witnessed many accidentsChandrakant Bhende 62 said that a large number of students residing in Lakshmi Nagar and beyond study in schools in Pant Nagar and other surrounding areasldquoWe take tuitions at home and some days ago a rickshaw ran over the foot of one of our students Before that our neighbour was run over by a speeding motorcycle A subway had been proposed and people have come to survey the area but nothing has materialised as of nowrdquo said BhendeTraffic cop saysTraffic ACP Babasaheb Budhwant who visited the spot on Saturday said while they have already started two signals on either ends of the road to control speeding vehicles extra recommendations have also been madeldquoWe have suggested that a subway be made for people to cross because the illegal crossing isnrsquot going to stop Secondly a skywalk on the Pant Nagar junction can also help the cause Currently we have deployed constables during school hours to prevent accidentsrdquo said Budhwant