KL Report
SRINAGAR
When speculations and counter speculations are doing rounds about possible PDP-BJP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, Modi led government in New Delhi Friday expressed its concern about increasing raod mishaps in state.
The Union Minister of Transport said that the Central government is concerned about the increasing number of road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir and asked the state government to take stern action against the traffic violators.
He said that JK government should constitute special checking squads to curb the increasing road accidents.
“Road accidents, especially on National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir, are assuming alarming proportions. In every state there are standard rules and instructions for vehicle drivers about how to drive safe in mountainous regions but unfortunately the state of Jammu and Kashmir is not implementing the standard rules for road safeties,” Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari told KNS.
The statement comes three days after at least nine persons including three members of a family were killed in deadly road accidents in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district and Banihal.
Gadkari said that the hilly State of Jammu and Kashmir is not the lone example where the National Highway and other link roads pass over hills and gorges.
“The authorities in the Jammu and Kashmir should go tough against the traffic violators and should constitute special checking squads to the increasing road accidents,” he said.
He added that the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has conducted research on the reasons for increasing road accidents and has observed that lack of education, enforcement, engineering and emergency are the main reasons for the growing accidents.
“I urge the Transport department of Jammu and Kashmir to focus on it if they want that the number of road accidents should come down,” Gadkari said and added that it is also the responsibility of the public to prevent road accidents by following the rules properly.
The Minister advised Jammu and Kashmir government that Road Safety Council and District Road Safety Committees should be constituted to monitor mandatory safety measures for the vehicles plying on the roads in the State.
It is to mention here that the State Government has constituted the Road Safety Council but nobody knows what the Council has been doing. Surprisingly the Transport Department is almost unaware about the Road Safety Council of the State.
Reliable sources informed that as far as the District Safety Committees are concerned, not a single committee has been constituted so far.
“The graph of road accidents shows that most of the road accidents happen owing to the fault of the drivers and only few owing to the fault of pedestrians. It means that the transport authorities have to focus on why the drivers are the main cause of accidents and how that situation can be brought under control,” one of the official of the Department said.
