PUNE, Aug 6: Malshej Ghat, a picturesque mountain pass descending to Konkan about 135 northwest of Pune, is gradually turning into an infamous accident spot, if the record at Otur police station is any indicator.

While two mishaps were reported in 1994, the number rose to nine in 1995 and 13 in 1996. This year, Otur police have already recorded 17 mishaps.

The Ghat, also known as Rain Revellers' Abode, has claimed five lives so far this monsoon. Three trekkers from Pimpri-Chinchwad were mowed down by a jeep last Sunday. Two others lost their lives on July 31 evening when their vehicles plunged into a mist filled ravine.

``It's just mid-monsoon and we have already registered so many accidents,'' police sub-inspector at Otur police station Deepak S Arve told The Indian Express.

Negligence on the part of the Public Works Department (PWD), along with the oddities of nature such as landslides, thick fog and strong winds add to the problem. Even the tourists, whose number crosses 7,000 on weekends, are partly to blame.

The crowd and their vehicles virtually clog a stretch of about two kilometers of the 11 km Ghat, causing traffic problems. Besides, there is not enough parking space at both ends of the Ghat. ``The number of tourists visiting Malshej has increased and so has the Ghat's problems,'' Satish Telwane, a PWD supervisor stationed at Malshej said. Negotiating the crowded curved roads in the Ghat, especially those near the waterfalls, remains a difficult proposition mainly because of the vehicles haphazardly parked.Arve puts the number of tourist buses and other vehicles at the Ghat on weekends at around 700.

There is not enough parking space, neither at the Maharashtra Tourist Development Corporation (MTDC) resort or at Savarne village at the foothills. Tourist buses, mostly bringing conducted tours from Kalyan and Thane, jeeps, cars and hundreds of two wheelers are parked on the road, leaving no space for traffic. ``We do try to get as much as vehicles parked at MTDC and other open places here and there, but the number continues to swell,'' Arve lamented.

Some drivers at the Ghat suggested that the curving roads should be widened as a solution. Telwane, PWD supervisor, also agreed that some of the curves could be done up. Arve also stressed the need for sturdy retaining walls by the roads. Most of the support structures are in a dilapidated condition now. However, Telawane said he was unaware of any plans to repair them. Another factor behind the increase in the number of accidents is the fact that many people drive vehicles after drinking. Banning booze in the Ghat is not an easy job, Arve remarked. ``It would be impossible to check each and every person coming to the Ghat,'' he maintained, adding, ``We do check vehicles on weekends and other holidays and take away liquor bottles. These are duly returned to their owners when they go back,'' he claimed.

However, piles of wrappers of almost all liquor brands could be found littering the drains and every curve from the mountain top.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.