The plight of local commuters in Doda worsens

People travelling on National Highway 1B from Batote to Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir, risk their life everyday, as overloaded vehicles with novice drivers put their lives at risk. The area frequently registers major accidents.

CJ: Mansoor Qadir-Doda jammu

Fri, Jun 12, 2009 18:01:51 IST

Views:
7
Comments:
0

Rate:

0.0 / 0 votes

Jammu and Kashmir News :

THE GHOST of a tragic road accident continues to haunt the people of Doda and Kishtwar on National Highway 1B Batote to Kishtwar. On June 7, 2009, two consecutive accidents occurred on the Dodab-Kishtwar National Highway within six hours.

The first accident occurred at 12:15pm, when a minibus bearing registration no 'JK06-0749' met with an accident near Prem Nager, some 20km from district headquarters Doda, in which about 27 passengers were feared dead and five others, including the minibus conductor, received minor injuries, while the other accident happened near Nai Basti Sawgawhari only 5km from the site of the first accident.

Till now, no dead body has been recovered due to the torrential flow of the River Chinab. The minibus drowned in the river and only five lucky assengers were rescued. Nowadays, it has become routine to hear of road traffic accidents and loss of human lives, no doubt sometimes memories remain in the mind of the public; they express their grief and sorrow to the bereaved families, criticise the traffic police and administration, but who is responsible for this is a question seeking an answer.

If we refer to road accidents that have occurred in the recent past, the figures are higher than those of previous years and the causalities are also more. For instance, an accident that occurred on May 4 on Kishtwar Palmar road near Bhandarkoot, took the lives of 31 people, including 20 teachers and lecturers of the Education Department. But it seems none of those unfortunate passengers objected to the the overloading of the Matador that had a seating capacity of just 17 people.

According to reports, these government officials were in a hurry to reach their respective work place and thus took the overloaded Matador on an accident-prone road. Isn't it the government's responsibility to ensure safe and secure travelling for its employees?

Was the traffic police on duty that day? What circumstances allowed the passengers to reconcile their consciences with the clear danger of travelling in an overloaded Matador, that too on an accidental-prone hilly road?

No one knew whether the driver went throught a qualification test for obtaining his Driving License or whether he had arranged it through broker/agents. Who is responsible for all this?

The same fate met a Bolero vehicle, which crashed in an accident on February 14, 2009, near Drabsalla. Six people died and five were injured in that accident. The vehicle was meant to carry only eight people, including a driver. Another Matador vehicle, which met with an accident on Kishtwar Paddar road near Bunzwar on February 16, 2009 was carrying 71 passengers against the approved 17+1.

The role of official departments in the loss of precious life, is a debatable issue. According to the general public, the traffic police is fully responsible for the menace of overloading, as the employees get graft from drivers weekly, or monthly.

But a strata of educated people do not agree with this fact. They opine that these accidents can be avoided only if the government, through the District Administration, provide sufficient means of transport and deploy a number of vehicles on all roads. The considerable number of vehicles will ensure a comfortable and safe journey for everyone plying on the route, say regular commuters on the route.

Thus, the administration is also equally responsible for the loss of lives. The licensing authority takes some of the responsibility as well, as they may have ignored the proper procedure in issuing the Driving License as well as route permits, without assessing the situation on the ground level. It appears that the drivers learn their driving skills on local roads for a few days before they start driving passenger vehicles, that too on tough accident-prone roads.

Over and above, common men are equally responsible for this error. Thus, until and unless the inner conscience of common men awaken and they start observing fundamental duties, such incidents will continue.

E-mail |

Print | Post comment