Letter written to Chief Justice treated as PIL
*Directs Govt to frame CoE to ascertain reasons, file ATR
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 20: Taking serious note of frequent road accidents in the hilly areas of Chenab Valley, a Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh comprising Acting Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Rajesh Sekhri has directed the Government to constitute Committee of Experts (CoE) to ascertain reasons and file Action Taken Report (ATR) by or before next date of hearing.
On December 17, a social activist Asif Iqbal Butt of Kahara in Doda district wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of J&K and Ladakh High Court requesting for taking suo-moto cognizance of increasing road accidents in the hilly terrain of Chenab Valley.
It was brought to the notice of Chief Justice that frequent accidents have snatched hundreds of lives over the decades and hardly a week passes without any tragic news of accident thus causing panic among the locals but the Government agencies have failed to take any concrete measure to check the mishaps.
The letter was treated as Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and clubbed with PIL titled Intakhab Ahmed Qazi Versus State of J&K and Others, which raised the issue with regard to road accidents on the Mughal Road.
When the PIL registered pursuant to the letter written to the Chief Justice came up for hearing, the DB observed, “the letter raises concerns about Government agencies not taking adequate measures both long-term and short-term to prevent such unfortunate accidents. The issue highlighted in the letter is of serious nature in public interest”.
Accordingly, the DB impleaded Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir through Commissioner Secretary, PW (R&B) Department, Commis-sioner Secretary Transport Department, Director General of Police, Inspector General of Police Traffic Jammu, Chief Engineer R&B Jammu, Assistant Regional Transport Officer Doda, Assistant Regional Transport Officer Kishtwar, Project Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), Chief Engineer Project Beacon and Chief Engineer Project Sampark as party respondents.
Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, who was assisting the Division Bench in PIL titled Intakhab Ahmed Qazi Versus State and Others, was appointed as Amicus Curiae in the new PIL as well. He brought to the notice of the Division Bench that in a road mishap occurred today morning, three people were feared dead as an ill-fated vehicle (car) plunged into River Chenab in the Gandoh area of Doda.
He informed the Division Bench that terrain of Himachal Pradesh is worse than the terrain of Jammu and Kashmir but still very few accidents take place in the adjoining State as compared to hilly areas of J&K particularly Chenab Valley. “This is mainly because the Government of Himachal Pradesh has taken several short term and long term measures to prevent road accidents but the Government of J&K is still in deep slumber”, he added.
Accordingly, DB issued notices to all the respondents and the same were accepted by Senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli, Additional Advocate General R S Jamwal, Deputy Advocate General Dewakar Sharma.
The DB also directed the Government to constitute a Committee of Experts to ascertain the reasons for repeated road accidents on Batote-Doda-Kishtwar Road. “The Committee shall suggest measures which help to make the road accident-free”, the DB said.
A further direction was issued to Commissioner Secretary R&B and Chief Engineers of Project Beacon and Sampark to erect rolling barriers/steel pillars on curved roads, also wherever culverts are found through Batote-Doda-Kishtwar road.
“The respondents against whom the directions are being issued shall file the Action Taken Report by or before the next date of hearing”, the DB said and directed the Registry to supply complete paper of this petition as well as copy of this order to the counsel for the respondents as also the Amicus.
In the letter written to the Chief Justice, it has been mentioned that road circuits in the districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban are in dilapidated condition and need immediate attention. Huge piles of sand and gravel roadside, vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers, rash driving, drunk driving and violations of the traffic rules are common feature on these roads, read the letter.
“Since the roads in the upper reaches are narrow and have a number of blind curves, the installation of rolling barriers is essential for alleviating the severity of the accidents”, the letter said, adding “setting a robust road infrastructure, implementing the recommendations for road safety and ensuring strict compliance with the traffic rules are the need of the hour”.
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