YEIDA files complaint in view of rise in accidents on Yamuna Expressway

Noida: In view of recurring road accidents at 165-kilometer long Yamuna Expressway that connects Greater Noida to Agra, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has filed a police complaint against the concessionaire of the e-way and its national company law tribunal (NCLT) appointed resolution professional.

The authority argued that the Expressway operator Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL) and Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain have not taken up safety measures suggested by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in its safety audit conducted in 2018 to reduce road accidents.

The report submitted by IIT suggested multiple measures like metal beam crash barriers, safety barriers at divider, road guard rails, rumble strip, CCTV cameras and others. However, the Jaypee Infratech went into insolvency process after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium seeking revival of the realty firm.

"Despite several notices issued to IRP Anuj Jain and bank consortium to ensure safety of motorists on the Yamuna Expressway by taking up the safety measures suggested by IIT, none of the notices were heard. We have initiated strict actions and ordered an FIR against the IRP and IDBI Bank-led consortium. We believe that if the operator had paid heed to our notices and installed crash barriers, the lives of seven persons who were killed in road accident at Mathura on Wednesday could have been saved," said Arun Vir Singh, Chief Executive Officer, YEIDA.

He added that arrests should be made at the earliest so that those responsible for negligence must be punished.

According to YEIDA officials, a total of 49 road accidents took place in January 2021 in which 15 persons lost their lives while 88 persons were injured. Also in last three years, over 400 persons have lost their lives in at least 1800 road accidents reported on the accident prone Yamuna expressway. The expressway is infamous for road accidents, mostly due to over-speeding, despite several measures taken to make travel safe.

A senior police officer of Gautam Buddh Nagar police said that the FIR has been registered under section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) at Beta-II police station of Greater Noida. "Investigation into the case is underway and proper actions will be taken against those responsible for the negligence," the officer added.