Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 11: Jammu and Kashmir has yet not fully implemented the measures recommended by the Supreme Court’s Committee on Road Safety and the compliance report submitted through the Transport Department in order to avoid onslaught from the Apex Court is contrary to the ground situation and fraught with the danger of causing tragic road accidents.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that the Supreme Court in a Petition No.295 of 2012 had constituted a Committee on Road Safety vide order dated April 22, 2014 for making necessary recommendations to the States across the country in order to ensure road safety and check accidents, which were assuming alarming proportion.
Thereafter the Committee held series of meetings and deliberations with all the stakeholders including the concerned officers of all the States including Jammu and Kashmir in order to deeply analyze the prevailing situation and accordingly recommend measures required to be taken for ensuring road safety, sources said.
As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, the Committee headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan convened meeting with the concerned officers on February 13, 2015 and recommended 16 measures to promote road safety, sources informed, adding on March 3, the Committee dashed a communication to the Commissioner/ Secretary Transport of Jammu and Kashmir highlighting the measures required to be taken to meet the objective of checking road traffic accidents, the number of which is alarming in this hilly and difficult terrain State.
“Though the Transport Department of the State, which is the nodal agency for ensuring implementation of the measures recommended by the Committee, has submitted compliance report albeit after reminders, the ground situation is contrary to the same as many measures have yet not been fully implemented”, sources said.
Quoting some points, they said that panel had recommended drawing up of a protocol for identification of black spots on a continuing basis, their removal and further monitoring to see the effectiveness of the action taken. Though Traffic Police and Roads and Buildings Department have identified such spots but no further action has been taken till date and many accident prone areas in hilly districts are testimony of the same.
“It seems that concerned authorities are of the mind-set that their job was only to identify such spots”, sources regretted, adding “similarly the directive relating to installation of CCTV cameras for detecting traffic violations has not been implemented till date and presently the Traffic Police doesn’t have its own CCTV cameras. Moreover, it has yet not started making use of Executive Police cameras for detecting traffic violations”.
Moreover, all the traffic cops entrusted with the task of checking drunken driving don’t have alcometers. Similarly, initiating necessary engineering measures on the roads to reduce accidents remains confined in the papers only.
The measures like imposing ban on sale of alcohol on State and National Highways, removing hoardings and objects that obstruct driving or distract drivers and taking effective measures to remove encroachment on pedestrian paths in order to make the same available for use of the pedestrians are also only on the papers and in the compliance report submitted to the Supreme Court’s Committee on Road Safety.
Notwithstanding enough thrust of the Committee on setting up of sensor based computerized tracks to test the driving skills for issuance of licenses, this vital aspect has not received the serious attention of the concerned authorities till date, sources informed.
When contacted, Secretary Transport Department, Baseer Khan said, “we have submitted the compliance report and regular meetings are being held with other stakeholders on strict implementation of the measures”.
IG Traffic, J P Singh, when approached, said, “during the next plan the department will procure sufficient number of CCTV cameras for installation to check traffic violations”, adding “those installed by Executive Police are not of immense use for us from traffic violations point of view. But still we will put them to use for our purpose”.
“Whatever equipment required to enforce the measures recommended by the Supreme Court Committee would be procured in near future so as to provide better facilities to the Traffic Police cops for checking violations”, he further said.
Whatever may be the plans for future, the fact is that at present several measures have not been implemented and compliance report is contrary to the ground situation.
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