2 years after Cyrus Mistry’s death, Palghar trauma centre still incomplete

Palghar: Two years after industrialist and former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was killed in a high-speed car crash on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, the 200-bed trauma care centre that’s being built by the Maharashtra public health department in Manor, Palghar, is still far from completion.
On September 4, 2022, Mistry and his fellow rear-seat passenger, Jehangir Pandole, died on the spot after the Mercedes they were travelling in veered out of control and crashed into a wall on a bridge over the Surya River in Palghar. The driver, renowned gynaecologist Anahita Pandole, and her husband Darius, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, suffered serious injuries but survived after the Palghar police rushed them to a private hospital in Vapi, Gujarat, around 20-25 km away from the accident spot.
After the accident, the state government promised to speed up the construction of the trauma care unit it was building in Manor to cater to accident cases. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway is notorious for the number of accidents it witnesses every year due to poor maintenance and several blind spots. Currently, there are no major hospitals that can deal with serious accident cases from Vasai to Vapi, a distance of around 100 km.
While the construction of the trauma care centre in Manor began in August 2019, when HT visited the site on Monday, much of the work was still incomplete. There was no electricity on the premises, no beds or equipment, and the operation theatre was not ready. Sources said demands for hiring staff had not been met for years.
Dr Ramdas Marad, a civil surgeon in Palghar district, said the work had stopped completely during Covid and restarted only after the Mistry accident. He added that the hospital building is almost ready, and furnishing and electrification work has begun. “We have asked our health department to give us 150 staff members and at least 15 doctors, and the proposal seeking staff has been sent,” he said.
According to Marad, most accident cases are taken to Manor rural sub-district hospital, which has a medical superintendent, three doctors and 15 nurses. However, the hospital does not have a CT scan or MRI machine, which are needed to treat accident cases.
Dr Manali Kokate, a doctor at the rural sub-district hospital, confirmed that the facility can’t handle serious accident cases. “We can only do suturing of patients and give them anti-tetanus shots. I have to send most of the serious cases to Vedantaa Institute Of Medical Sciences in Dahanu, Silvassa or Valsad in Gujarat. In most cases, drivers of ambulances run by the public health department come up with alibis when ferrying patients, and there is a delay. I really wish the trauma care centre comes up fast. It will help save lives.”
Dr Tejas Shah, who owns the Rainbow Superspeciality Hospital in Vapi where Anahita and Darius Pandole were treated and stabilised, said there are no major hospitals between Vapi and Vasai along the national highway because there are no major cities on this stretch. “There are small hospitals in Talasari, Charoti and Manor, but they don’t have facilities to treat accidents. These facilities also don’t have neurosurgeons.”
This is alarming, given the number of accidents on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway every year. In 2023, there were 182 accidents on the highway in Palghar alone, in which 106 people died and 64 were seriously injured. This year, 107 accidents were reported till July, with 58 deaths and 29 people seriously injured.
A police officer said the highway was one of the worst-maintained and had many blind spots. “We constantly write to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to fix the blind spots. The dividers have been broken by dhaba and petrol pump owners. There are diversions, and the road condition is bad. These factors lead to accidents.”
Suraj Singh, project director of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, said there is a need for a 24/7 facility because accidents mainly take place at odd hours, and the initial few minutes are crucial. NHAI has launched an app that provides details about nearby hospitals, he added.
Another police officer said that the Manor hospital needs to be opened as soon as possible, as the Mumbai-Vadodara highway is nearing completion, and the construction of the Vadhavan port has also begun.
Sachin Patil, an executive engineer at the Palghar PWD, said the construction of the Manor hospital had been held up for two and a half years due to the pandemic. The delay has led to the construction cost rising from the initial estimate of ₹68 crore to ₹112 crore. “We are finishing electrical work, and it will take at least three to four more months to complete,” Patil said.