I
Sir,
The horrible Reasi road accident which claimed 22 lives and injured 26 underlines once again the fact that road safety in the State is not going to be a reality. The road safety system will remain as dangerous as it is today. It will remain an opportunity for politicians and civil society to express ‘concern’ and ‘sympathies’ for the kith and kin of those who get killed.
Even after so many accidents in these hilly areas, nothing has changed for good despite assurances doled out by the Government again and again. Nor has the attitude of people who include transport owners, drivers, matadors and general public.
There will much hue and cry during accident time, but everything will be forgotten after few days. No measures will be taken to improve the road safety. Instead of improvement, the road condition wil worsen day by day. The superficial repairs carried out by road construction agencies hardly last for a long time. A rain shower is sufficient to make roads traffic unworthy.
There is urgent need to redress this issue on a priority basis, in case road accidents are to be avoided in the future. Otherwise, we will continue to pour out mere ‘concerns and sympathies’ and nothing else.
Yours etc….
Anmol Khajuria
Udhampur
II
Sir,
As usual our PM, CM, Dy CM and other leaders of the present coalition Government have condoled the loss of lives. While extending heartfelt condolences to the families of those who died in the tragic accident our CM has prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls. She has also called for ensuring best possible Medicare facilities for the injured. Immediate cash relief of Rs 10,000/- each in favour of the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 5000/- each for the injured has been released by the Deputy Commissioner Reasi. It has also been stated that the adequate compensation to the families of the deceased is being provided. After pricing of the lives of poor people who generally are constrained to travel by bus/mini-bus, by the concerned authorities “adequate compensation” as per the government policy would be paid to the families of deceased and the people’s representatives would feel themselves that they have done their job as what more they can do. None of the above mentioned authorities has assured the people of the state that to avoid or minimize such tragic road accidents in the hilly state suitable measures would be initiated. Nor it has been mentioned in the statements that responsibility of such accident would be fixed and the delinquent officers/ official would be punished under the rules. As overloading is the main reason for such accidents but due to shortage of staff in the Motor Vehicle Department there is no checking to arrest the menace of overloading especially in the hilly areas .
It is informed that against the requirement of 1023 manpower to ensure effective functioning of offices of RTO Kashmir, RTO Jammu, RTO Kathua and other ARTOs at present the Motor Vehicle Department is having only 286 sanctioned posts. About 19 districts of the state have less than 10 sanctioned posts against huge requirement to ensure effective functioning of offices of the ARTOs as well as to ensure proper checking of violations of Motor Vehicle Act. Despite huge shortage of manpower particularly in hilly areas, all the concerned authorities are soft-paddling on creation of posts for this vital department.
It is my humble request to all the concerned ministers and the officers and other law makers that for God’s sake, initiate remedial measures to avoid such accidents in future so that the poor people may not lose their lives so cheaply due to the negligence of the driver otherwise a day will come when huge population of this state would become disabled and again it would be the liability of the state to rehabilitate them.
Yours etc….
S.S.Jamwal, New Plots
Jammu
III
Sir,
In J&K, we have to change the way we think about accidents. Majority of people think that accidents are due to fate. We have to think of an accident as a preventable affair and death in an accident was not a premature death. No training is imparted to drivers in J&K, no publications (booklet) etc. for safe driving measures, and the outcome is lawlessness on our roads. There is need to have a driving test before a person becomes eligible to drive and booklets should be provided to drivers with all necessary informations regarding safe driving. Hundreds of people get hurt or killed each year in road accidents in J&K due to poor road condition. The condition of road in Reasi is very bad. There are everywhere stones on the road, and road is not macadamized. There is a need to improve the conditions of the road by the authorities of the Govt specified for road purposes. A mass campaign by Govt to train drivers will ensure safe journey on the roads. We will teach ourselves the basic fundamentals of road safety like how to drive safely, avoid drinking, what to do in an emergency, know what to do when our vehicle has broken down in a bad spot. There is also lack of sufficient ambulances on our roads to carry injured persons to nearby hospitals If such an eventuality arises in the future.
Yours etc…
Bunty Kumar
Reasi (Gari)
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