MANGALURU: The death of a young newly married couple in a ghastly accident at Thokkottu flyover on Tuesday evening saw the Mangaluru city police brass descend there a day later, seeking solutions. With Mangaluru city taffic police (MCTP) officers in tow, city police chief Vikash Kumar Vikash deliberated on the situation arising from the accident threadbare with officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Vikash Kumar told TOI that it is a constant endeavour of the city police to identify such accident spots and take corrective action, and not get spurred by any specific incident. “We flag any and all such potential spots with the authorities concerned – NHAI in this instance—and strive to arrive at some corrective action that will help save precious human lives,” he said. “We will take some concrete decisions regarding this particular accident zone shortly,” he noted.
“We are aware of a few unscientific road approaches within the city police limits, which in turn tend to cause accidents if the motorists are not careful,” Vikash Kumar said. MCTP officers have made note of all such spots and requested the authorities to take corrective action, he said, adding this process will continue in the future as well. “If the onus is on MCTP to address the situation, it is dealt at our level,” the city police chief said.
The Tuesday accident in which Rayan Fernandes and Priya Fernandes, residents of Bajal, lost their lives, saw a flurry of agitated responses on social media, with netizens questioning the NHAI over the design of the flyover, and city police for not enforcing speed limits on what is perceived to be an unscientific opening at the Ullal end of the flyover. Motorists coming from the service road from Thokkottu have to take a right turn, at the end of the flyover, to go to Ullal.