Tempo rams into car carrying 10 people on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, killing six of a family

Toddler Anoushka Dhulap is among the four survivors of an accident that killed six members of her family on Mumbai-Pune Expressway at 6 am yesterday.

She lost her father, but her mother escaped with minor injuries.


Anoushka Dhulap lost six of her family members in the accident when they were on their way to Karad near Satara to attend a function yesterday


Ten members of the Dhulap family were on their way to Karad, in the south of Satara district, to attend a family function. They were admitted to the Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Chinchwad, Pune.

The deceased are Kashinath (45), Sandip Kashinath (28), Haribha Ganpat (50), Santosh Haribha (25), Usha Shamrao (40), and Suman Haribha (45).

Santosh, engaged to be married, was driving the car, when a tempo rammed into it from behind. Vipali (22), Shushant (3), Poonam Khade (23) and the year-and-a-half-old Anoushka escaped death and major injuries.

Poonam, however, suffered a fracture.

The mothers of the children, Shushant and Anoushka, are alive, though they have sustained minor injuries.
This year has already seen more accidents than the last two years around the same month (see box).

MiD DAY spoke with the safety officer of Mumbai-Pune expressway. He said, unwilling to be identified, "Road marking is done every year and is currently going on.

New sign boards have replaced the old ones. Regular patrolling is done."

Further, he added that government should allot at least one ambulance and one fire brigade to each highway police station, so they are not dependent on calling some one else for help.

"Many a time, they don't even turn up, as they are constantly short-staffed for drivers and resources. Having their own vehicles, they save on time as well as lives," the official said.

Grim Figures
Though it's just the beginning of the year, the figures for the number of accidents on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway are grim.
2009- 28 cases/ 37 deaths
2010- 10 cases/ 11 deaths
2011- 3 cases/ 6 deaths