Team Herald
PANJIM: Adding to a series of fatal and grievous accidents reported across the State, one youth lost his life, while around eight persons have been injured in a horrific accident at Chimbel on Thursday.
The accident involving seven vehicles, including an oil tanker and water tanker, saw the four-wheelers, a rickshaw and three bikes totally crashed. Twenty-four-year-old Akshay succumbed to serious injuries while undergoing treatment at Goa Medical College, while two others who are injured and are admitted to GMC, are battling for their lives.
Police sources said that the chain accident was due to the oil tanker’s brakes failing that led it to dash into other vehicles on the Chinchwada, Chimbel route. This is said to be a second accident at the same spot this week. Old Goa police arrested accused driver Dinnanath Mouriya of Uttar Pradesh for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and rash & negligence driving.
Angry locals came on the streets demanding rectification of the poorly-engineered road. They also slammed the government for failing to complete the long-pending incomplete over bridge work on the Chimbel-Ribandar junction.
The people have given the government a 15-day deadline to provide a solution failing which they will agitate on the streets.
Later in the day, a delegation of Chimbel locals also met the Deputy Collector seeking an urgent solution. “There is an accident every alternate day. The victims either die or are seriously injured. We want a solution and we are fighting for the safety of the commuters,” one of them said after the meeting with the official.
Another local pointed out to the faulty road engineering and accused the police of failing to mention about poor/faulty roads in the panchnama, a procedure carried out after the accidents. “The police are hand in glove. We have been demanding traffic signals, blinking lights and other road safety measures for people travelling on this route. The junction has become so dangerous that it is fearful to travel. We want that government heeds to our demand at the earliest,” he said.
The Deputy Collector has scheduled a site inspection at 10.30 am on Friday.
