Cab breaks parapet before falling into deep gorge
Sanjeev K Sharma
JAMMU/RAMBAN, Mar 29: In yet another tragic road accident, 10 persons, mostly labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP), were killed in the mountainous Ramban district on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Battery Chashma when the vehicle they were onboard skidded off the road and landed in a 400 feet deep gorge during wee hours of Friday.
Sources informed that the accident took place between 1.30-2.00 am when a cab of Tavera make bearing registration number JK12-8728 coming from Jammu and moving towards Srinagar skidded off the road and fell in a deep gorge leaving all the 10 persons onboard dead.
Eight deceased persons in the vehicle were from Bihar, one was from UP and the driver was from Jammu.
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The accident was so devastating that bodies of the dead were found in mutilated condition.
The deceased persons might be going to Srinagar for labour related works.
In the early morning hours, the first body which was recovered was that of the deceased driver of the vehicle Balwan Singh, son of Purab Singh, resident of Amb Gharota, Jammu and it was identified by his relatives.
Subsequently, bodies of nine other persons were also recovered, with the final recovery taking place at around 1:30 pm.
Senior police and civil officers including DC Ramban, Baseer-Ul-Haq Chaudhary; Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police for Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban Range, Shridhar Patil; SSP Ramban, Anuj Kumar, ASP Gourav Mahajan and others visited the spot to assess the situation.
Search for the vehicle was going on till last reports under a team supervised by Dy.SP Headquarter Ramban but some of its parts were recovered from a rivulet locally popular as ‘Bisleri Nallah’ about one kilometre away from the accident spot.
Apart from driver, other deceased persons were identified as Raju Kumar, son of Sardha Nishad, resident of Bharisthan Semralabadaha, West Champaran, Bihar; Avadhesh Bin, son of Swaminath Bin, resident of Bhaisahiya Semralabedaha, West Champaran Naraipur, Bihar; Belas Bin, son of Badari Bin, resident of Ward no. 8, Pachrukha Sirisiya Madhanpur, West Champaran, Bihar; Indrajit Bin, son of Swami Nath Bin, resident of Bhaisahiya Semralabedaha, West Champaran Naraipur, Bihar; Bipin Mukhiya, son of Vishwanath Mukhiya, resident of Ward no. 13, Inaar Barwa Bherav Ganj West Champaran, Bihar; Raj Kumar Bin, son of Bechu Bin, resident of village Kalash Nagar Narayanpur, West Champaran Bihar; Hari Bin, son of Chnnar Bin, resident of Bairi Asthan Semralabedaha, West Champaran Semralabedaha, Bihar; Sandeep, son of Shivmangal, resident of Sohasa Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh and Rajan Mukhiya and son of Sonu Mukhiya, resident of Belaura Sahsu, West Champaran, Bihar.
As per initial reports, the recovered bodies were scattered and mutilated and all were lying on the slope of the gorge.
DIG Shridhar Patil when contacted informed that exact reason for the accident will only be ascertained after the completion of investigation which was underway.
“It was raining at the time of accident and a slight fog was also there due to which visibility was very low,” he said adding: “As preventive measures to control road accidents in future we are focussing more on fining the violators for overloading, over-speeding and other offences.”
The DIG said that they will also use technology and install CCTV cams at certain places to check road accidents while the drunken driving will be strictly dealt.
“For accident prone black spots, the concerned road constructions agencies like Beacon, R&B etc will be reached for corrective measures and for installing crash barriers, blinker lights etc for safeguarding human lives,” he maintained informing that their focus will be more on passenger vehicles.
DIG Patil stressed on the importance of disciplined driving and said that only a disciplined driver can safeguard the precious human lives as Police check posts can’t be at everywhere.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ramban, Gourav Mahajan when contacted informed that the gorge in which the cab fell was over 350 feet deep due to which the bodies were mutilated.
He informed that reason behind the accident was under investigations while the family members of the deceased were informed about the tragedy.
“The rescue operation could not be started at night as it was raining and it was completely dark but with the first light of day the rescue operation was started and it continued till evening,” ASP Ramban maintained adding that Police has registered a case in this regard and the investigation was underway.
When contacted DC Ramban, Baseer-Ul-Haq Chaudhary said that nothing could be commented at this juncture but might be the driver had a slight nap after which the vehicle fell.
“It was a parapet there and the vehicle broke it before falling into the gorge,” he said.
On compensation, he said that details from the family members of the deceased persons were sought and they will seek permission from the election authorities for compensating the victim families as Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has been clamped across the country at present in the wake of upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
It is pertinent to mention here that a tragic road accident claimed 39 lives and left 17 others injured when a bus fell into a deep gorge due to rash and negligent driving in the mountainous Doda district in November last year.
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