Sir,
Kishtwar road accident on 12-11-2019 taking lives of 16 inhabitants of a village, brought deep bereavement and sorrow. It reflects total failure of traffic mechanism and transport system. The operators of private passenger vehicles are more dangerous than the terrorists. The difference is that the terrorists kill others with intention whereas these drivers take lives of others with negligence and by violation of traffic rules. A hundred excuses put together can’t justify any violation of rules which cause such an irreparable loss. Devastating tragic accidents anywhere is indication of the system failure. The roads in rural areas generally remain dilapidated as if no human being lives there. The prevalence of corruption is another hurdle in execution of the laws. Inefficiency and consequent unskillfulness on the part of vehicle operators is another major factor which contributes in such tragedies. Only well trained and duly tested drivers should only be engaged for public transportation. Obviously, every driver needs a sort of awakening to understand the value of a life. The law enforcing agencies need to be tough to curb tendencies of overloading, rash-driving and use of phone while driving. It is another thing that we are in the list of ‘over populated countries, but blood-shed on roads is never linked. Those who travel in private vehicles are generally considered not very rich. Therefore, ex gratia relief in such incidents is humanly justified to be announced. The nation is already confronted with multiple problems, adding more to the list by such losses, would weaken it further.
Keshwa Nand Sharma
Salehri (Sunderbani)
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