21 accident-prone ‘black spots’ in Nashik city: Police

Nashik: As many as 21 locations in the city have been continuously witnessing road accidents for various reasons, owing to which they have been tagged as ‘black spots’.
According to the city police, such black spots record at least five or more accidents involving serious injuries or fatalities, or ten fatalities over the last three years.
One such spot, the Dwarka Junction on the Mumbai-Agra Highway stretch through Nashik city, has witnessed 35 accidents from 2021 to 2023, resulting in 20 deaths.
Considering the rush of vehicles and repeated accidents at this junction, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had even constructed a flyover here and thrown it open in June 2013, apart from widening the carriageway width below the flyover and providing service roads alongside. A pedestrian subway was also built at the spot to cut down chances of accidents. Yet, this junction continues to be the most accident-prone in the city.
Among other black spots, the police said that the ramp towards the elevated corridor of the highway in Ambad and the road in front of KK Wagh College have witnessed 12 accidents each between 2021 and 2023. The Shinde and Palse villages, which are 2.5km apart along Nashik-Pune highway, have also witnessed 11 accidents each during the same period.
The other listed black spots include Adgaon Truck Terminal, Jatra Hotel Chowk, Shere Punjab Hotel Chowk in Adgaon, opposite Panchavati College, Tractor House Chowk, Amrutdham Chowk, and Garware T-Point, all on the Mumbai-Agra highway through the city.
On the Pune highway, the other spots notorious for accidents are Bytco Junction, Upnagar, and Datta Mandir signal.
Abhay Kulkarni of the Nashik First organization, which has provided training on traffic awareness to over two lakh citizens since 2015, said, “The authorities, like the police, Regional Transport Office, NHAI, Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) and more, all need to work jointly to properly identify the cause of road accidents and how they can be reduced.”
Conversely, deputy commissioner of police (DCP-HQ and Traffic) Chandrakant Khandvi said, “Prevention of road accidents is a joint responsibility of everyone and that includes motorists, pedestrians, shopkeepers, hawkers, and others.
Everyone must ensure that their conduct on the road is not jeopardizing someone else’s life. The police are taking all measures, including challaning of errant motorists and communicating with the authorities concerned to prevent road accidents.”