Destructive power of nature has once again performed its naked dance by taking with a single stroke 14 precious lives, including five women and a minor, while 18 others remain critically injured. A six-tyre minibus carrying thirty-two passengers from Ghardi to Ramnagar in Udhampur District rolled down at Gurland near Dalsar into a deep gorge resulting in instantaneous death of ill-fated passengers. People from adjoining villages rushed to the spot to render whatever assistance they could to the dying passengers and rescuing the survivors. They informed police and district authorities who rushed to the site of accident and were immediately engaged in rescue operations. Critically wounded have been airlifted to Udhampur/Jammu hospital and their condition remains so.
What a tragic accident! The bereaved families had never imagined that catastrophe would befall them so suddenly and so mercilessly. True that death keeps no calendar, nevertheless, road accidents happen more by human error and human intransigence than by sheer absolute will of nature’s destructive forces. Recurring road accidents and destruction of precious lives is a national loss. Hardly a month passes when we have not the bad news of a road accident and consequential fatalities. The question that comes to mind is this: are passengers of public and private buses, mini buses and other vehicles destined to meet their sudden death? Is there no escape from the clutches of death while they travel? There is no answer to these nagging questions. That such tragic road accidents should happen every week or every month is a sad commentary on the elaborate traffic police establishment when we dispassionately analyze the causes of these accidents. Most of these happen owing to human negligence and unpardonable carelessness.
We are aware that Government circles are seized with this problem. We also know that the traffic police department has taken many steps to reduce road accidents and we know that the matter is regularly under review from time to time. We do not discount the efforts of the Traffic Department. Nevertheless, the point is that the taste of pudding is in eating. If the frequency of road accidents is drastically reduced, we shall concede that the efforts of reforming the traffic system and rules and requirements have become effective. As long as horrible road accidents continue to happen, we shall have difficulty in trusting what the traffic police places before the public by way of absolving itself of the onus. The accident that has met with tragedy along Ramnagar route is reported to be the result of first the driver taking a mobile call that naturally diverted his attention and second, his urge to drive fast and overtake another bus moving a little ahead of him. Overtaking is the deadly habit of drivers, and when there is a race for picking up passengers along the road, overtaking decisively turns fatal. What should the traffic police do to stop drivers from using mobile phone when they are driving? It is difficult to imagine of a foolproof remedy unless the passengers have the right to take the law in their hands and snatch the handset from the driver until he arrives at destination. Again, if the passengers were alert and conscious of the dangers of overtaking, they would not have allowed the driver to be reckless; they could have stopped him and if he was adamant, reported to the nearest traffic police check post. It is very unfortunate that while the drivers are incorrigible, the passengers are immune to the danger that awaits their lives when on a hilly, circuitous road that is pot-shod and they do not deter the driver from indulging in highly dangerous maneuvers. With each tragic road accident, the Traffic Police have to have new experience of the causes and then sit down and think of removing those causes. It is not that they have a desk book of rules for the drivers before them and they go by its content year after year and decade after decade. Each accident has its history and setting, which should be probed into and based on that probing, remedial measures have to be taken. We are aware that the Governor and the Chief Minister are greatly concerned about these tragic accidents and have been imploring the authorities to ensure safe passage over hilly roads. The bad condition of these roads is another cause of accidents and that part is to be taken care of by the Roads and Buildings Department
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