Nashik: The Jalgaon taluka police have initiated a suo motu case against a construction company and its officials for culpable homicide. This action follows the death of a man in a head-on collision on a damaged highway overbridge. The incident highlights ongoing concerns regarding road safety and infrastructure maintenance in the region.
Police said the accident occurred on a single operational lane of the overbridge after the other lane was shut due to severe structural damage, allegedly caused by substandard construction.
“Only one lane of the overbridge was operational as it has suffered major structural damage due to substandard construction,” Jalgaon SP Shrikant Dhivare said. Police said the three-to-four-km bypass stretch, built by the company and opened about a year ago, developed major defects after the soil beneath the overbridge subsided, posing a serious risk to motorists. Company officials continued to allow high-speed traffic through the vulnerable stretch despite the absence of adequate barricades, warning signs, illumination and traffic wardens, according to police. Inspector Shashikant Patil, of the Jalgaon Taluka police station, said further investigation is underway.
As a precautionary measure, police had closed one lane and diverted two-way traffic onto the remaining carriageway.
further investigation pointed to what police described as grave lapses by the contractor While the victim’s relatives initially lodged a negligence case against the truck driver.