19-year-old fatally knocked down by banned fish cart in Mannadi

Police said, Saraswathi, daughter of Marimuthu, a resident of Royapuram was knocked down by a motorised fish cart, which is banned on city roads, when she was walking along the roadside. 

Saraswathi fell down and suffered grievous injuries on her chest. However, onlookers did not take her injuries seriously and let the fish cart person go scot free. Nandhini was taken to the Government Stanley Medical College were her condition worsened. 

Police said her chest injury turned out to be fatal. She underwent a surgery in the night but did not recover. The Elephant Gate traffic investigation wing has registered a case and have started investigations. However, police said the fish cart that caused the accident had no registration and they are yet to identify the vehicle. 

The menace of motorised fish carts have increased in the city as more and more vehicles are fixing motors to their carts and engage in rash driving. The police however, prefer to overlook these violations. 

Recently, the Madras High Court had pulled up the city police following a petition from Traffic Ramasamy, who sought the court’s intervention in implementation of the ban on motorised fish carts. The HC had banned motorised fish carts in the city in 2002 and had extended the ban till further orders. Though police acted against such vehicles plying on the roads initially, they slowly loosened their grip and most of them have made a comeback on the city roads.