3 of a Family Killed as SUV Rams Truck on ORR

Three members of a family died when the SUV they were travelling in hit a stationary truck on the outer ring road (ORR) at Tondupally under Shamshabad police limits early Monday. One more, identified as a techie, is battling for life. The victims were identified as - A Naga Ramalakshmi (53),  her brother Adiraju Mahidar (50) and Ramalakshmi’s  daughter Sindhura (19), an MBBS student. Mahidar’s daughter Aparna was hospitalised with serious injuries. Naga Ramalakshmi’s husband MVV Suryanarayana is a Joint Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs in Hyderabad and stays at the Gachibowli quarters. His family members live in Vijayawada. According to police, Ramalakshmi and her family members were on way to Hyderabad to be with Suryanarayana for Dasara. Mahidar was at the wheel of their Mahindra XUV. He lost control of the vehicle on the ORR near the Tondupally railway bridge and rammed it straight into a parked truck laden with tiles. As the SUV was in top speed, three of them died on the spot. Aparna, who was trapped amid the mangled vehicle, suffered severe injuries. “Our ORR patrolling staff received information around 8.40 a.m. The traffic and law and order police rushed there and found three dead. Aparna was unconscious and trapped inside the vehicle. We arranged a crane and rescued Aparna and shifted her to a nearby hospital,’’ said Shamshabad inspector K Uma Maheswar Rao. He blamed Mahidar for the accident. ‘’He might have been sleepy while driving the vehicle and over speeding was also one of the reasons,’’ he added. 

Her Cries for Help were Ignored : It was a nightmare for Aparna Adiraju, a 20-year-old techie with Infosys, after she got trapped inside the wreckage of the vehicle on the outer ring road. For about an hour,  she lay writhing in pain and bleeding profusely beside the dead bodies of her family members - her father,  Mahidar Adiraju, who was the Managing Director of Veridian Energy Solutions Private Limited in Vijayawada, her maternal aunt Naga Ramlakshmi and cousin Sindhuja. It appears Aparna’s cries for help fell on deaf ears as none stopped by to help her. Finally, after about an hour, one car driver noticed her and immediately alerted the police. “Aparna was seated in the back seat and therefore, survived with injuries. The impact was more on those seated in the front. In fact, before entering the city, her father had stopped the car for a moment during which Aparna, who was till then seated just behind him, shifted to the last seat (towards the rear of the car),’’ a police official said. The ORR patrolling team traffic sub-inspector Raghu told Express they had a tough time rescuing Aparna. A huge crane was brought to the spot to dismantle the wreckage.  Police battled for more than one-and-a-half hours to disengage the vehicle from the truck.  Aparna is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Shamshabad. 

Negligence, Speed Leading to Deaths on ORR, Says DCP: 

Q. What kind of measures are being taken up to prevent accidents on ORR?
A. We have four patrolling vehicles. Traffic policemen keep monitoring the movement of vehicles. If anyone is found violating traffic rules, a penalty is imposed. We completely banned two-wheelers from plying on ORR. Besides, we segregated ORR into four parts on each side and no vehicle should not park on ORR. Accidents have come down on ORR by at least 30%.
Q. Any plans to introduce more patrolling vehicles?
A. Yes, I prepared a comprehensive report suggesting increase in the number of patrolling vehicles on ORR from four to eight or 10 for patrolling round-the-clock. I have submitted the proposal to my higher ups.
Q. Even as police are implementing new rules, why are accidents still taking place on ORR?

A. In a majority of cases, driver’s negligence or overspeeding are the key reasons. Accidents on ORR take place at morning or night.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com