J&K and Himachal Pradesh are two hilly states in Northern India where road accidents have become the primary cause for the loss of precious lives. Both the states, being hilly for the most part, have hilly roads cut into mountains which are mostly made of sand and not hard rock. During monsoon rains, these mountains are easily vulnerable to landslides resulting in road block for days at end. This is the overall phenomenon. But here we are focusing on road safety policy of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, which has to be understood and acted upon by one and all and especially the commuters, passengers, drivers and the traffic staff engaged for controlling the road traffic.
Recurring road accidents resulting in fatalities have been a matter of great concern both to the popular Government and to the Governor of the State. After the hiatus of the day of announcing the result of the elections to the day of forming the Coalition Government, which fills nearly six weeks, the Governor ran the administration. It was during that tenure, that he had taken up the road safety policy very seriously. Not to speak of the time frame which he had then fixed for the implementation of the road safety policy, the matter received scant rather no attention from the concerned quarters during the coalition rule in the State. The Governor was saddened by the fact that no action had been taken by the Coalition Government in framing the road safety policy.
The Road Safety Policy had been adopted after much discussion among the authorities and the stakeholders. In a recent meeting with administrative officers, the Governor has approved draft of the road safety policy and its implementation within a time frame. This time, the Governor has issued clear orders to the District Commissioners and Traffic authorities to take active part in the campaign so that some semblance of safe road transport is established. However, before launching the policy, the Government has directed the Chief Secretary to bring the policy to the public domain. All these suggestions will be considered by special authority earmarked for the task and finally reach the Governor. This is a laudable decision. Public will certainly respond enthusiastically to this issue and the Governor will get direct feedback in the matter that is of equal importance to the people in general and concerned official circles.
If the suggestions made in the policy document were strictly enforced by the traffic authorities and the Government, there is every possibility that the number of road accidents would considerably come down. Most of the accidents happen owing either to the negligence of the drivers or overloading of the vehicles or using outdated buses for transportation. We reiterate that the Traffic Police Department has to be cleansed of corrupt practices by giving exemplary punishment to those against whom corruption is proved. It is important to put a check on fake or fraudulent driving licenses by drivers who have not undergone any training and take the risk of driving along the hilly paths. We highly appreciate the suggestion of the Governor that there is need of educating the people on essentials of road safety like not riding over-crowded buses, not allowing the drunken driver to drive the vehicle, not allowing the driver to do rash driving or mad overtaking along the hilly paths. The passengers should have the courage and sense of putting a check on the driver because it is to secure their own lives and lives of others as well. We hope that this time the road safety policy will be introduced in letter and spirit and follow up action will not be lacking.
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