The Velapur police in rural Solapur on Monday registered a case against a Pune-based road contractor and others for culpable homicide and negligent conduct after a pick-up van carrying 15 people plunged into an uncovered 50ft well on the Mhaswad-Pandharpur road in Tandulwadi around 3.45pm on Sunday, killing four women and four children, including a six-month-old boy.
The police said that, despite knowing that an open well was located close to the road construction site, the contractor did not take adequate safety measures, such as installing signboards, speed breakers, adequate lighting, and protective barriers alongside the road and the well. The absence of these safety measures contributed to the accident, in which the pickup van carrying 15 pilgrims from Siddhanath temple at Mhaswad in Satara district to Ranjani in Pandharpur taluka of Solapur district veered off the road and fell into the uncovered well. The deceased were cremated at their village on Monday.
Police investigation underway
“We are searching for the road contractor and ascertaining the responsibility of others associated with the road work,” assistant inspector Ashish Kamble of the Velapur police told TOI.
MSRDC response and local concerns
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has taken up the work to put boards indicating the open well, danger spot, drive slow signals at the accident spot. “Now since the schools have started, there will be increased traffic along the road. In the morning there was no barricading done, however in the afternoon MSRDC staffers erected bamboo fencing and placed a poster informing the presence of a dangerous well. How can bamboo barricading stop any vehicle from plunging into the well? There should be a proper wall built, painted in luminescent colors so that drivers can be alerted,” said a Tandulwadi resident.
Well owner’s account
Well owner Ramkrishna Kadam from Tandulwadi village said the well was built by his great grandfather around 100 years ago and had a proper masonry wall around five feet high. “There was a small road initially passing seven to eight feet away from the well. The govt undertook a road widening project and the distance between the road edge and the well was reduced to just a foot. Moreover the contractor raised the height of the road by five feet increasing the base. I was promised by the contractor that the masonry wall structure damaged during road construction will be rebuilt, however he left the work midway, moreover he built a concrete wall of poor quality on two sides and left two sides of the well open,” Kadam said.
District collector’s action plan
Solapur district collector S Karthikeyan told TOI said he has asked various agencies from PWD to MSRDC and NHAI to survey the wells located within 50 meters of the road. “The survey should be completed in 21 days after which the respective agencies will have the responsibility to undertake required measures to ensure the safety of the traveler. According to the measures to be carried out, we will issue the funds immediately,” Karthikeyan said.
Forum demands safety measures
A Sangli forum, Nagrik Jagruti Manch, has written a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding survey of wells across all roads in the state, erect strong walls around the wells, erect safety barriers, install warning signs, install solar powered lights. “In future, these measures should be made mandatory first before construction of any road,” Satish Sakhalkar said in the letter to the CM.
