*Measures to check tragedies remain only on papers
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 8: Establishing that all the strategies chalked out from time to time to contain road accidents have remained only on papers, Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing over 5800 accidents ever year with 919 persons having lost lives and 8400 sustained injuries during 2015. Moreover, 14 out of 22 districts of the State continued to show increasing trend thereby putting a question mark on functioning of Road Safety Committees headed by respective Deputy Commissioners.
According to the official data, the copy of which is available with EXCELSIOR, a total of 5867 road accidents took place in the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir during 2014 while as the number was 5850 during 2015.
Jammu district is on the top of the list of 22 districts with 1407 accidents in 2015 followed by Udhampur with 475 accidents and Srinagar with 435 tragedies on the roads. However, the districts of Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi, Poonch, Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag, Awantipora, Sopore, Kupwara, Pulwama, Kargil and Shopian have shown an increase in road accidents as compared to other districts of the State.
During 2015, a total of 919 persons including 757 male and 162 female lost their lives in 5850 accidents while as 8395 persons including 6720 male and 1675 female sustained injuries in these mishaps. The highest number of deaths were reported from Jammu district followed by Udhampur district. In Jammu 129 persons lost their lives while as the number in respect of Udhampur district was 110.
“Such a large number of accidents clearly indicate that measures planned from time to time to check rising trend in mishaps have remained only on the papers despite the fact that Governor N N Vohra has repeatedly been voicing concern over the prevailing situation”, official sources said.
“What to talk of other measures planned at the level of bureaucrats, even the directions issued by the Governor from time to time have not been given practical shape in several districts of the State”, they added.
A number of committees of senior bureaucrats and of legislators were framed during the past few years to go into all aspects of accidents and suggest concrete and effective measures to prevent road accidents but the recommendations either remained confined to the official files or some of them implemented with half-hearted approach, sources regretted.
Even during recent Governor’s Rule a committee headed by Chief Secretary with senior bureaucrats from different departments was framed but what measures the panel has suggested and whether those measures have actually been taken on ground remains a mystery, sources further said, adding “it seems that the concern over rising road accidents ends up with the formulation of one after another committee without any focus on giving practical shape to the measures recommended in the past”.
Referring to constitution of District Road Safety Committees, sources said, “these Committees generally meet only when there is hue and cry over any tragic accident and normally the Deputy Commissioners, who head these panels, don’t convene meetings regularly”, adding “moreover, what measures these Committees actually take on the basis of decisions taken in the meetings, is not known to anyone”.
Pointing towards the districts, where number of accidents is increasing as per the official statistics, sources said, “this is the testimony of the actual performance of the District Road Safety Committees”, adding “there is no progress on the directions issued by the Governor in February 2015 which include carrying out improvements in the road architecture particularly in the vulnerable districts, duly vetted by the Design Directorate based on the Safety Audit for identification of black spots”.
How the statistics vis-à-vis road accidents fail to come down if the authorities concerned have taken all the required measures remains a million dollar question? sources said, adding “prevailing situation demands the Government to analyze gaps in the implementation of measures recommended from time to time in order to prevent loss of innocent lives in the accidents.
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