Pune: The Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat has issued a notice to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, National Disaster Management Authority, Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority, Pune and Raigad district disaster management authorities and the National Highways Authority of India over the inconvenience the toll paying motorists faced from Feb 3 to 5 following the accident involving a tanker carrying propylene on Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
The notice alleged failure to provide essential services to commuters during the period and sought fixation of responsibility. The organisation also suggested measures and a policy framework to avert similar hardships on the expressway and other highways across the country in future. It warned that disasters, if not handled effectively, had the potential to disrupt the entire nation.
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In its notice, the consumer organisation alleged systemic failure of disaster management and deficiencies in highway and emergency services, stating that commuters who paid toll were left stranded for hours without access to basic facilities such as drinking water, food, medical assistance and timely information. The organisation also made a series of recommendations, calling for a clearly defined disaster-response policy for highways and expressways to ensure that such situations were handled in a coordinated manner in the future. It urged authorities to put in place standard operating procedures to ensure uninterrupted access to essential services for commuters during emergencies, not only on the expressway but also on other national highways across the country.MSRDC officials said they would study the notice and send a reply to the organisation.
