Fatal accidents on KMP Expressway a cause of concern

We are trying to enforce lane discipline, put up signboards and build parking spaces, say authorities

Regular accidents on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway have become a cause of concern for the authorities. It is not hard to spot a heavy commercial vehicle parked illegally here, and on many occasions, these stationery vehicles lead to fatal accidents, especially at night, when speeding cars hit them from behind.

Ruknuddin, 28, a trailer truck driver, who was on his way to Malda in West Bengal, parked his vehicle on the KMP Expressway a few metres away from the Panchgaon toll plaza on Friday morning and dozed off. He was awake throughout the previous night to get his trailer loaded at a car plant at Industrial Model Township in Manesar.

”I could barely keep my eyes open after I left the car plant around 5 a.m. I found it safe to park my vehicle on this expressway and sleep. Many vehicles were parked on this road around that time,” said Mr. Ruknuddin, a resident of Rajasthan’s Alwar.

The traffic volume on the 135-km-long KMP Expressway — a peripheral road to Delhi passing through five districts of Haryana — has almost doubled over the past year to record around 60,000 vehicles per day.

Pradeep Kumar, Project Manager, Kundli-Manesar stretch, said truck drivers not adhering to lane discipline and two and three-wheelers plying “illegally” on the expressway were also the cause of these accidents.

“We have put boards at several points on the highway directing the motorists and truck drivers to follow lane driving, but the adherence is poor. The surveillance vehicles keep an eye on truck drivers parking illegally on the road, but it is not possible to completely curb the menace,” Mr. Kumar said.

R P Vashist, SDO, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), said the fatality rate was high for the accidents on the expressway. “Almost 8-10 fatal accidents take place on the expressway every month. Since the accidents mostly involve heavy commercial vehicles and light private vehicles driven at a high speed, the survival rate is low,” Mr. Vashist said.