shariq's blog

Bad roads lead to mishaps in Rajouri
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, April 29
Not only bad roads, but inadequate number of commercial vehicles, shortage of traffic policemen and outdated vehicles have also claimed a large number of precious lives in border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.

In fact, these districts are known for deadly accidents. On February 2, 19 passengers were killed and dozens others wounded in a bus accident at Nowshehra in Rajouri. The authorities cited technical fault as the reason behind it. Just 12 days ago, 16 persons lost their lives in a road accident at Sawajian near Poonch, while an overloaded minibus skidded off the road and fell into a gorge.

Imran Dar of Rajouri and Shamim Ahmed Lone of Poonch attribute the surge in accidents to outdated vehicles (plying on the roads even though the High Court ruled that vehicles more than 25 years old should not be allowed on roads), shortage of commercial transport and inability of the policemen to manage the traffic. Such vehicles are plying with the blessings of a few transport officers and a powerful mafia.

Sources revealed that the government had miserably failed to take preventive measures to check road accidents. Though the state government has authorised police stations concerned to check overloading and over-speeding by drivers, policemen have entered into a nexus with vehicle operators wherein they sidetrack the guidelines set for private vehicle operators.