Six deaths and 16 accidents later, residents of Hari Om Nagar in Mulund still await traffic signal for safe passage

Mumbai: A deadly junction without a traffic signal for over ten years has become a matter of life and death for the residents of Hari Om Nagar in Mulund East. After filing several complaints highlighting the dangers of indiscipline traffic and high-speed vehicles at the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), from where the residents take a turn to their area, they were promised a traffic signal in February at the junction. However, as February has come to an end, there is no sign of a signal to come. “The situation is getting riskier by the day,” said Madhusudan Gutti, a resident of Kamdhenu Cooperative Housing Society in Hari Om Nagar.

This issue was also covered by HT in its January 23 edition wherein the citizens group of Hari Om Nagar Apex Body Federation (HONAFE), which had around 3,000 supporters then, and the Nalanda Public School in Mulund highlighted the dangers through a campaign.

To illustrate the danger the junction poses, Gutti filed an FIR with the Kopri and Navghar police stations, asking about the number of accidents at the junction between East Datgati Marg and Kopri Village. The RTI reply, by the Kopri police station on February 9, states that from 2018 to 2023, 16 accidents took place there. Of these, six were fatal.

“This problem has been there for over 10 years, and we keep complaining. Although our demand is for a permanent solution, such as an underpass or a bridge, we want a temporary safe passage through a traffic signal till then,” Gutti said.

“As this place comes at the boundary, both the police stations can be involved in accidents. That is why I filed the FIR for the information at both. But only the Kopri police station has replied, and Navghar police station’s reply is awaited,” said he.

In January, after the former joint CP of traffic, Pravin Padwal had written to the BMC about the issue, they had responded in the affirmative that they would install the traffic signal in February.

The current joint CP (traffic) AD Kumbhare said that he would check into the issue, but it was the BMC’s responsibility to install the traffic signal. On the other hand, a BMC official, who looks after traffic, said they would check the status of the traffic signal, as they didn’t have any information on it.