Chanakya Charan Dass “Tikri”
jagmohansharma1602@gmail.com
On 20th of April 2026 a heart-rending accident took place in village Kaghote near Ramnagar, in Jammu Division of JandK. The bus was carrying passengers to the District Head Quarter, Udhampur for their daily errands. By all accounts, the bus plunged 100 meters down the road and fell upon an auto-rickshaw carrying passengers on a road down below.
What must be noted here is that the bus that rolled down from the upper section of the road, on to the lower section, was overloaded and so was the auto-rickshaw down below, on which this ill-fated bus landed in totally mangled condition. As per the reports in the print media, the bus was carrying 65 passengers on the winding hilly stretch while its seating capacity was only 42. The auto-rickshaw was carrying 17 passengers while its capacity was 9.
The tragic accident claimed 21 lives while 62 were injured. It is understood from the account of the survivors that the accident happened when the overcrowded and speeding bus could not negotiate a blind curve on the road & fell down the gorge after its tyre burst.
A few things that come out very clearly from this accident are that there was overloading, not only of the bus but also of the auto-rickshaw down below. The bus was over speeding. What was the physical condition of the bus? Was it roadworthy? And, finally, did the driver have a valid license to drive in hilly areas?
The timing, 10 o’clock, of the bus and the auto-rickshaw was such that the people of the adjoining areas must have had a reason to be in Udhampur in time to attend to their work in the offices, schools and colleges. Thus, the overloading of the vehicular transport must not have been incidental but because there must have been scarce availability of transport at the time of peak passenger demand. You can see scenes of overloading of buses & other vehicular traffic all around Jammu region, especially in the rural areas.
It is therefore incumbent on the authorities to ponder over these questions as the road accidents in JandK are happening far too often resulting in loss of precious life. I am not going into the details deliberately as I am fully aware that these problems are known to the concerned authorities and they must ponder them over as otherwise this is not going to be the last accident – unfortunate as it is!!
It’s not an easy thing to say, but yes, I am compelled to say this with a very heavy heart as we are not learning from our past accidents that have consumed innumerable lives throughout JandK!! The accidents make news, they are bemoaned for a few days, compensations for the dead and injured are announced and then life is back on the old track. No systemic effort seems to be made to ensure that such accidents don’t occur again!!
However, it is not only the authorities but also, we “the people” as a society who should be careful about our own safety. We are not safety conscious as a society and take life for guaranteed. That is why it is not uncommon to see drivers driving on the wrong side of the road instead of taking a “U”-turn, for example, at the specified location. This habit of several drivers is not limited to the internal roads of our cities and towns (it’s bad in any case) but also on the national highways where the traffic is moving at a much greater speed and therefore the risk of accidents multiplies several folds. For easy access to their villages/homes the divider between the lanes on the NH is seen to be dug up by residents/localities at several places. It is not uncommon to see motorcyclists drive over the broad dividers and appear suddenly in front of the fast moving traffic on NH from nowhere.
It’s not uncommon to see drivers riding motorcycles, scooters or scooties without helmets or maybe just keeping these gadgets on their heads and not tying them up onto the chin. A helmet, not properly tied, may bluff a policeman, but it is no security against the watchful gaze of the “Yamraj”, when it comes to the shove, God forbid. The drivers don’t care for the traffic lights and just move on irrespective of whether the lights are green, red or orange. In any case there are not many traffic lights working in Jammu city, though installed. However, wherever they are installed and working the drivers should adhere to the protocol not only for their own safety, but for the safety of the others too.
We, as a society, are also not averse to overloading in buses. We somehow relish it. We come across several instances where the passengers (young and old) relish sitting on the roof of the buses, especially the students. The students and younger generation “enjoy” hanging on to whatever portion of the running buses that they can latch on to. They don’t even listen to the sane advice. I think they believe they are fashionably “WOKE” and none has a right to advise them.
There was yet another young boy who probably wanted to fly at the speed of bullet train on the flyover near Maheshwar, Samba around a week back. He was travelling towards Jammu. We also happened to be travelling in the direction of Jammu that day & passed by the accident spot 5 minutes after it had happened. There were vehicle parts and mauled angle iron pieces all around. The police were also there. Because of the high speed the young boy could not control his car on the curve of the flyover and jumped over the divider, which was protected by angle iron, hit a dumper and a fuel tanker that was travelling in the opposite direction towards Delhi and then was literally thrown back to his own lane by the force of the impact. His car was smashed, car engine was ripped apart, rear and front of the car was smashed into a “peda.” The driver side of the tanker was ripped apart & the tyre flattened. The airbags in the car saved the young driver from the jaws of death. He was lucky and so were his parents!! He, probably, was an exception but several are not.
Recently a very unfortunate accident happened in Jammu in which a young and promising girl from a local college lost her life when the door of the bus she was travelling in got unlocked, probably because the bus experienced a jump on the road and she was thrown out of the door because of the imbalance. The students of the college were headed for a picnic. A picnic that could have been a joyful and memorable moment for the students turned into a huge unforgettable tragedy for the life.
Incidentally, these observations are from the posts I read on the social media.
Obviously, there was an outrage. In the heat of the moment and in anger the basic point is usually lost. The tragedy gets a back seat, and allegations and counter allegations fly fast. These are also driven by the social media.
Here again, my mind went back to the safety precautions that could have been taken to avoid this unfortunate incident. It is very easy to blame the teacher accompanying the students in the bus. At least this is what I see on the social media. But is that right? Did she have a say in the hiring of the buses? No!! Did she have the qualification or authority to certify the roadworthiness of the buses? No!! Did she have the authority to check the driving licence of the drivers driving the buses? No!! Did she have any control over the conductor of the bus? No!!
In the foreign countries there is a specified teacher to student ratio when they are accompanying the students on picnics or educational tours. It is normally 1 to 10. Here we have one teacher for more than 50 students. The teacher is essentially a teacher, who should devote his/her energies towards educational upliftment of the students even when outdoors. The teacher can make it a mix of entertainment and studies to make it more joyful. That is all.
The role of a teacher on such occasions can be likened to be that of a shepherd. The only difference being that he/she is not shepherding sheep but teenagers who are bubbling with wit, energy and sometimes with mischief too.
It isn’t easy for one teacher to control 50 or more students of college going age in the outdoors. There have been cases in many colleges where, for example, a couple of students became a cause of anxiety to teachers as at the time of returning home from the picnic and headcount they realized that some students were missing. Search parties found the students in inebriated state in nearby fields. In another incident some students were found to have returned from the picnic spot with their girl/boy friends without informing the teachers. There have also been cases during picnics when young lives were lost while they were making video reels in precarious areas.
Therefore, the emphasis should be on avoiding such unfortunate mishaps again. There should be a set and foolproof protocol from hiring the buses to ensuring that adequate number of teachers are available in each bus with the students and sense of discipline is inculcated in the minds of the students. I would even suggest sending the parents of some of the students in each bus while their wards are going on a picnic. There should be no compromise on the quality of buses and the operators. If there is an iota of doubt it is better to cancel the trip rather than take a risk?
Finally, it must be emphasized that the safety of citizens on the road must become a part of the society we live in. It is a 24×7 requirement and every citizen must contribute his/her bit into it. It is no use breaking traffic rules while you are travelling with your children on a bike or in a car. I always feel perturbed when I see motorcyclists jumping over a divider while their kids are sitting with them. What examples are these adults setting for the children?
The government should revisit and establish as to which areas of JandK require more passenger buses and what should be their frequency of plying on a particular route. It must also determine roadworthiness of the vehicles a fresh especially those running in far flung areas. There should be no compromise on drivers breaking the rules and the “powerful” should stay away from interfering with the lawbreakers. There should be frequent orientation programmes at district/panchayat level for the drivers of commercial vehicles.
It is not an easy task but with grit and determination at government and societal level it is doable.
Otherwise, accidents have happened, will happen and will continue to happen and lives will continue to be lost!!