Tragic road accidents that consume precious lives have become a recurring feature in our State, especially in the hilly tracts. The Traffic and Transport Departments of the State has failed to control the accidents, which are essentially caused by infringement of traffic rules and negligence of drivers as well as traffic police. Of course, there can be destiny also playing its mischievous role. We have been writing copiously about the causes, effects and remedies of road accidents. The Government is seized of the issue. It occasionally calls meetings of experts to suggest remedial measures. However, notwithstanding all that is done there is no relenting in the fury of accidents. When closely examined, we conclude that human error made knowingly or unknowingly is at the root of the accident.
The responsibility of preventing road accident lies partly with the policy planners and partly with the traffic police. As we see, both are deficit in performance according to the need of the hour. The bus that has met with tragic accident while plying from Jhakhed to Udhampur had the capacity of 42 passengers. Actually, it was carrying around 80 commuters some of whom were hanging by the pedestal and some had gone to sit atop the roof of the bus. No traffic functionary was to be seen at the origin of the bus who would have disallowed the driver to carry double the allowed number of passengers. While negotiating Bandrasa Morh at Marathi near Latti, the driver was not able to maintain control and the overloaded bus lurched to one side and fell down the gorge somersaulting down the 400 feet. Twenty four passengers died and the number of wounded rose to fifty. Dead bodies were scattered over a radius of 500 meters. The very idea of the tragic scene sends shock down one’s spine. CRPF jawans were the first to reach the site of accident followed by personnel of Police Department and administration. Eight ambulances are pressed into service to carry the injured to the hospital in Chenani, Udhampur and the GMC hospital Jammu.
The President, the Governor and the Chief Minister have conveyed condolence on the tragic deaths and asked authorities to render all possible help to the injured who are admitted to the hospital.
One fails to think what to say about our traffic police because there is hardly a week when small or big road accident does not take place and recurrently for the same reason viz. overloaded bus, or defective breaks and mechanical failure. One of the reasons of overloading the passenger buses is that there is inadequate frequency of bus service in hilly areas. In many hilly regions a bus may ply only once in a day. There is usually great demand for increased frequency, which, however, is not forthcoming. In the case of the accident under consideration, one more bus was supposed to ply on the route but failed to appear. This forced the passengers to be accommodated in the only service available to them. It led to overcrowding and the tragic consequences followed. If there were more frequencies, say if at least three or four buses were to ply on the route, obviously, there would not be as much of crowds asking for a lift. Therefore, the Transport Department has to find out some of the busy routes where frequency of bus service needs to be increased to meet the needs of the people.
Secondly, road condition of hilly roads is dismal. Slightest mistake on the part of the driver will mean tragedy of immense magnitude. A team of road construction experts should visit all these hilly roads and submit a report of how vulnerable spots, turns and crossings can be secured against road accidents. There might be the need of widening the turns at crucial points to allow the vehicles easy and safe turning. Road signboards should be displayed in bold writing in English/Hindi/Urdu that would alert the drivers when negotiating a sharp turn or bumpy patch. There is the need of enforcing speed check of passenger vehicles according to the prescribed rules. The drivers found violating the norms of the speed check must receive severe punishment within the framework of the law.
With all said and done, the onus comes to the doorsteps of the traffic police. It will be reminded that prior to the take over by the coalition Government, the Governor as the chief executive had called a meeting of police, vigilance seniors and bureaucrats and given them time frame within which certain important reforms and corrective measures to control traffic accidents had to be taken. However, those instructions were never implemented and the much-awaited reform in the functioning of the Traffic, Transport and other Departments remains unrealized. Frequent traffic accidents resulting in deaths are a crime for which the concerned Department employees are culpable. It has to answer why it is failing in its duty or why it is not bringing about reforms that would scale down the number of casualties of traffic accidents. If there is shortage of staff, why does not the Government pay attention to it and raise the strength so that accidents are averted. The curse of overloading the buses is hard to uproot unless drastic action is taken against the defaulting drivers, conductors and bus owners. A fine of few hundred rupees for some fault or irregularity is not the cure of this malady. Strictest punishment has to be given because precious lives are involved.
Most of the buses plying on National Highway or the link roads to the Highway are outdated, obsolete and dangerous. The Apex Court has ruled that buses over 17 years of age will not ply on the roads of Delhi. Has our traffic department ever taken steps of cancelling the license of passenger buses that have more than seventeen years of life? Not to speak of passenger buses plying on link roads, the mini buses plying in the city of Jammu are most disgusting and obnoxious. We wish that a senior Government official once takes an experimental ride on a mini bus from the Parade Ground to Borhi or to Narwal, he will find how human beings are reduced to cattle class while they travel in these tin boxes. Why does not Jammu have modern, decent, comfortable and fast buses and why compromise with existing obnoxious stuff? Actually, the bus-owners have formed nexus with Government officials thereby stalling any reform and change in the existing traffic system in two capital cities.
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