Overloading goes on unabated in Mendhar

People climb on Tata Sumo risking their life in Mendhar on Friday. -Excelsior/Rahi Kapoor
People climb on Tata Sumo risking their life in Mendhar on Friday. -Excelsior/Rahi Kapoor

Excelsior Correspondent
POONCH, Feb 4: Road accidents are increasing continuously in the region and many people have lost their lives in the recent past. The process of overloading in passenger vehicles plying in various hilly areas of Poonch district is going on at a fast pace, which can prove fatal for the passengers.
While the Traffic police and transport department have failed to check overloading when one or the other accident is being reported every day, the local passengers allegedly that which Tata Sumo runs on the route from Mendhar to Poonch, the front seat where there is a capacity of only one driver including two passengers, but the drivers forcefully adjust three passengers there. It is an inaccessible hilly area, so if there is an accident, who will be responsible for it, it is the negligence of Traffic police officials.
They said that from the main Bus Stand of Mendhar, all the passengers go for the vehicle routes while the traffic personnel are also present there but even after seeing this, the drivers are not asked by them for the reason best known to them.
Despite presence of Traffic police cops, all passenger vehicles could be seen overloaded and rashly driven on various routine like, Chhatral-Kalaban, Balakote, Mankote, Sagra, Balnoi, Pathanateer, Dharana, Mendhar, Poonch and others.
Traffic authorities’ claim of taking necessary steps to control overloading and book the people especially drivers for violating rules, but nothing happens on ground, locals said, adding that it is a serious issue and the administration should work over it.
The locals namely Majid Khan, Mohd Ashiq Khatana, Ketan Verma and others said that there are checkpoints at various locations, but inspite of taking action against the traffic rules violators, the cops are seen gossiping with the operators of passenger vehicles.
People have demanded that the traffic officers should be strictly asked why overloading is happening on all the routes and action should be taken against any driver who is found to be overloading.