The shattered glass on the road and tense policemen posted at strategic points in the area today were reminders of the violence that took place at the Barkat Ali Chowk on Sunday night. A 12-year-old boy was run over by a trailer, and people from the adjoining slums spilled over on the roads pelting stones at the policemen and fire brigade personnel who arrived on the scene. Fourteen policemen and six fire brigade men were injured. In fact, RPI leader Ramdas Athavale has dashed off a letter to the RTO asking them for an explanation for seventeen accidents in a year.

On Sunday itself, two other people had received minor injuries in separate accidents. On October 20, 18-year-old Sandeep Sadanand Pawar wasalso run over by a truck in the same area. Says senior inspector of Wadala police station Joseph Main, ``There are heavy vehicles running in this area because of the presence of oil companies and FCI godowns. The people have demanded a traffic signal at the Barkat Ali Chowk, which is extremely accident-prone. The signal will most probably be installed within a month.''

The situation in this area has worsened after construction of the flyovers at Sion and Dadar began two years ago. Heavy vehicles like trucks, tankers and trailers enter the area directly from the Chembur highway. And with thousands of illegal hutments dotting the roads, accidents are on the rise. In fact, the Salt Pan Road, where the incident occurred yesterday, was 90-feet wide till a few years ago. Today, the width has reduced by 30 feet because of the encroachments.

Policemen in the area blame the slumdwellers for the problem. ``You will find children running over the roads, flying kites and cycling away merrily. The moment they are hitby a vehicle, a mob gathers and starts beating up the poor driver. They are responsible most of the time but we are forced to register cases,'' says a policeman.

Main adds, ``Because of the presence of slums, vehicles run at a speed of 15 km per hour. In February, a woman was hit by a truck but hardly injured. However, her husband beat up the driver so badly that he died on the spot.''Meanwhile, Wadala police have arrested the truck driver involved in Sunday's accident.

The driver, 27-year-old Nurul Hasan Waris, was arrested this evening from his residence at Sewree. He had offloaded the goods at the Nhava Sheva docks and was returning when the accident occurred. Waris had escaped after the accident and police traced him to his house, charging him with death due to negligence.