A professor died in a road accident at Salt Lake on Sunday morning. His car rammed into a pillar of an ongoing Metro project construction site. The professor, who was driving the car, received injuries in his head and chest. He later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
Dibyendu Paul (55), a professor in the University of Calcutta, was driving the car in high speed, when his car suddenly lost control, police informed. One of the front tyres burst. The car then lost control and rammed into a pillar.
“The professor went to oversee the construction work of his house at New Town. He sped off in his car while returning home in Kankurgachi. One of the front tyres burst while coming down from the flyover connecting New Town and Salt Lake Sector V. His car lost control and hit the pillar,” a police officer said.
The car was completely wrecked after the incident as the policemen recovered the body from it. He was sent to a nearby hospital, but declared brought dead.
“We sent him to the hospital. But he succumbed to his injuries before reaching the hospital. We informed his family members,” the officer said.
Rash driving has always been a perennial problem in Salt Lake. Instances where buses and auto rickshaws meet road accidents causing injuries and deaths of passengers are well documented.
The private cars also do not follow traffic rules most of the times, especially when it is late at night. On top of that, errant bikers have also been rampant across the township after dark adding to the menace.
“Most of the drivers do not bother to follow traffic rules. They do not even want to abide by them. But I am surprised to find that a university professor was driving at a breakneck speed, which is not justified,” said Saibal Das, a Salt Lake resident.
Sometimes, vacant streets of the township make the drivers pick up the speed without considering people who may be crossing the roads.
“We have recently decided to install traffic signals in most of the roads. Many people protested this decision saying the smooth flow of the traffic would be hampered with this. But we had to put up those automatic traffic signals due to the increasing volume of vehicles in this township,” said a senior police officer.