MUMBAI: For the Vishwakarmas, Chhath Puja celebrations ended tragically, as the eldest son of the family was crushed to death on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) after a luxury bus brushed his scooter on Monday night. The police said this was the third such accident on the route in the past few months, adding that the ongoing metro work had left the roads uneven and accident prone.
According to the Powai police, 25-year-old Rahul Vishwakarma, a delivery agent for a private company, had gone to the Pawarwadi Ghat to pick up his sister Priya, 22. Priya, her twin brother Ravi, and their middle aged parents, all residents of Vikhroli, had gone to celebrate Chhath Puja, and when they failed to find an auto to return home, they called Rahul to help out.
With Priya riding pillion, Rahul had just crossed the Powai Plaza signal when a speeding luxury bus brushed their scooter, and both of them were thrown off the vehicle. “Priya was thrown onto the footpath, while Rahul fell on the road and was run over by the front tyre of the bus,” said a police officer. The bus driver stopped briefly after the incident, but fled the scene without helping the injured. Rahul was rushed to Rajawadi hospital where he was declared dead, the police added.
The Powai police have registered a case against the unknown luxury bus driver under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and section 184 (dangerous driving) of Motor Vehicles Act.
Earlier in July, a contractor, Lalu Kamble, while returning home to Marol on his two-wheeler, had slipped into a pothole in front of the Powai lake on the JVLR and was crushed to death by a dumper coming from behind. In September too, a Devansh Patel, 22, while returning from the Lalbaugcha Raja darshan, was run over by a BEST bus after he skidded and fell due to the bumpy road.
The police said that Shiv Sena MLA Dilip Lande who visited the spot after Rahul’s death, has warned the officials to fix the uneven roads within 24 hours.