More than 1.3K dead on Mumbai-Pune Expressway in 6 years, but Maharashtra sits on trauma centre

Built with an aim to ensure that accident victims get medical aid during the ‘golden hour’ after an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the Trauma Care Centre has not been functional for almost two years now.

The building of the trauma care centre at Ozarde, near Talegaon with operation rooms, recovery rooms, two helipads and other facilities is not functional as there are no doctors or paramedical staff to treat accident victims.

Touted as a world-class “high speed” expressway that rivals the best in the world, the 95-km expressway is fast emerging as a death trap considering the number of accidents and the resultant deaths on the access-controlled E-way.

Last week in a written reply to state legislative assembly members, state health minister Dr Deepak Sawant said that a total of 4,634 accidents had taken place on the expressway between 2010 and 2016 in which 1,323 people had lost their lives.

According to a senior Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation official, the corporation has written several letters in the last two years to the state health department to assist them to appoint an agency to run the centre, but there has been no action on it.

“We have taken possesion of the centre and have written to the state health department to provide the doctors and other staff for the centre. We have also received three proposals from three institutions including MGM Hospital and Karuna Hospital, who have expressed interest in running the centre, but we have asked the health department to take the final call,” said Radheshyam Mopalwar, vice chairman and managing director, MSRDC. Mopalwar added that Siddhivinayak Trust has agreed to fund the fixed equipment for the centre.

Spread across an area of an eight-acre plot, trauma care centre is a level IV grade centre which is equipped to conduct initial evaluation, stabilise accident victims and provide diagnostic services. The level IV trauma care centre can provide surgical and critical care services as well.

Apart from the trauma care centre, the state government has provided Quick Response Vehicles (QRVs) on the expressway to deal with accident victims. Each of the four vehicles, which have five staffers, is equipped with gas cutters, a water tank, a towing crane, stretchers and power generators. The QRVs help in incidents of fire, accidents involving chemicals and oil spills, besides rescuing those trapped in accidents.

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