First Person: A near-fatal experience!
By Abhijit Sinha*
While returning from Ranikhet to Delhi on October 8, 2022, a few kilometres after crossing Brijghat Toll at Garhmukteshwar in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh at 7.13 PM, my car hit a big stone on the National Highway 9 at a bend on the road and stalled. There was a loud noise with smoke, and the airbags popped out. The car stopped with a jerk and could not be started again.
It was dark, cloudy and raining. Several stones and rubbles (malba) were lying on the road (see photos), dug up from the road divider. There were no hazard lights or reflectors to alert motorists at the bend in the dark.
I was driving the car – and my wife and a 75-year-old family friend were in the back seat. Fortunately, no one was injured, but it could have been fatal too. The spot where my car hit the stone is a total hazard. Subsequently, four accidents happened in front of our eyes. One person was killed in a freak accident. Yet, neither the police nor NHAI persons did anything to warn incoming traffic. Locals say there are accidents at this spot every day.
A couple of people stopped their cars and came out to check. One of them said to call Distress No. 112 for assistance. We also called several times but could not connect. The persons who came to our help said they will drive ahead and try to call the number. Later, a police jeep came at about 7.30 PM. Then the NHAI jeep came.
We asked for assistance from the police. A National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) staff also arrived by then. The police asked the NHAI staffer to call for a crane. The crane came after some time and lifted the car to the left side of the Highway. Later, with help of the NHAI person, we contacted a private roadside assistance service truck to tow the car to my home in Delhi. It came after midnight and towed the car to our home in CR Park, New Delhi, at around 2 AM on October 9, 2022.
The NHAI crane which had come to lift our car lifted that big stone on the road only after we asked the police and NHAI persons. Till then the police and NHAI were totally callous. I asked both to take down my statement that the contractor highway construction company should be prosecuted for criminal negligence. The police didn’t take my statement. The NHAI person only noted my name phone and car number. Neither of them responded to my query as to why the contractor was not being hauled up for such criminal negligence.
*Senior Journalist
Glad you and others in car are safe.
But did NHAI clear the stones?
Thanks. It was a miraculous escape. Just one stone was removed by NHAI crane that lifted my car. That too after we asked police and NHAI staff to prevent more accidents.
Its good news that you are safe. But the fact is such hazardous road conditions are aplenty and it has to be seriously brought to the light by many who experience it. The authorities must be reported.