Tragic bus accident near Jyotipuram has caused anguish to all of us. The loss of innocent lives is irreparable. Our deep sympathy goes to the next-of-kin of the bereaved families. Reports coming in from different quarters suggest that the tragedy happened owing to the inexcusable error of the driver and the conductor who had overloaded the bus with passengers. Overloading is usually the main cause of road accidents along the hilly and tortuous roads of Jammu region.
True that traffic control is mainly the duty of the Traffic Police Department whose functionaries have to be held responsible for the tragedy, yet apart from that, there are other departments and agencies directly or indirectly connected with the implementation of the law and exercise of their powers. While traffic police will be castigated for the tragedy also, other concerned agencies cannot be absolved of their responsibility. The Police Department cannot absolve itself of the responsibility of taking action on spot when a police official finds something gone amiss about the observance of law. Transport Department, Traffic Police and Executive Police are equally responsible for the tragedy in Jyotipurum. Transport Department has its branches in all districts. Are not those functionaries responsible for checking the status of the vehicles plying on district roads, overloading of passengers and the frequency of transport on busier roads. It has also come to notice that Traffic Police generally focuses on the supervision of the National Highway and neglects the traffic in the inner parts of the district. Inner parts of Reasi, for example, never have had any traffic police presence to check irregularities of buses and trucks plying on its roads. Government must take holistic view of road accidents and formulate new but effective policy for preventing frequent road accidents.
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