THANE: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is working towards finding short and long term solutions to avoid mishaps at the 27 major road accident prone stretches in Thane district which also includes the Mankoli spot that left four dead and three injured in the Tuesday mishap.As per plans, solutions to perennially accident prone spots like straightening a notorious bend, easing the slope or even putting up cautionaries will be taken up following a review of problem spots in the district. The ministry is likely to finance for the safety measures to be undertaken at the stretches following a review meeting of experts at the Central level.The decision was announced at a meeting in the city between the road agencies under the chairmanship of the district collector and the transport commissioner who will coordinate with the MoRTH in the issue. The agencies — the public works department, National and state Highway Authorities along with the MSRDC — that have constructed and maintain the vast network of highways passing through the Thane district have been asked to revise the list of mishap spots along their stretches as per the guidelines set by the Supreme Court. Around 300kms of highways criss cross the district.As per the new notification, a 500-m stretch on any highway will be tagged as a black spot if it has witnessed minimum five mishaps in the last three years or atleast a fatal accident with around 10 casualties. While the committee has a list of 27 tentative spots, the agencies are yet to submit a revised list and the numbers could possibly increase considering the frequency of mishaps.The Ghodbunder Road, Kharegaon, Mankoli naka, Rajnouli naka and Bhiwandi junction are some of the mishap prone spots initially drawn by the agencies within and around the city limits.The highways along the Shahpur and Malshej are mishap prone, informed a senior official from the coordinating committee. These spots are as per the police reports about fatalities and a revised data of mishaps could possibly include more areas, said an official.Speaking about the cause of mishaps on roads in the district, transport officials who are also part of the team say that most spots here are due to faulty road engineering. Illustrating the point, the officials says a stretch on Ghodbunder Road between Bhayanderpada and Gaimukh that has seen several tankers turn turtle has a faulty angle of banking.Simply put, the road surface at such turns should be at an angle wherein the part towards its centre of the road curve should lower than its outer side that will help balance the vehicles. There is no inclination to the road presently due to which vehicles often lose balance and topple while negotiating the curve. The scene is more or less the same at the highway along Kasara village, informed the official.When contacted, Shyam Lohi, deputy RTO who is the secretary of the special coordination committee confirmed the developments and informed some developments were likely within a week on this front."We have asked the concerned departments to revise and submit a list of accident spots in various parts of their jurisdiction within the district after consultation with the local police. The list will then be sent to the MoRTH that will take up corrective actions to minimize mishaps based on the topography of the spot and the kind of mishaps reported here often. The idea is to reduce the accident rate by atleast 10 per cent at these spots, informed Lohi.

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