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| Unprecedented road accidents worry Valley commuters | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
SRINAGAR, Nov 18: Lack of safety on valley's roads can be gauged from the fact that the road accidents are now routine affair here. Errant driving coupled with poor road infrastructure are the biggest factors for sharp rise in road accidents besides exponential increase in the number of vehicles. According to sources from the department of traffic, this year the number of accidents and casualties are expected to be more than the previous one.
Against this backdrop, there is no denying that Valley witnessed surge in road accidents over the period of one decade killing more than 2,255 people and wounding 23,368 others. The data recorded by traffic police details that 16,297 accidents have occurred during the period 1998 to 2007.Though proper research is yet to be done; there is general observation that the number of injuries in road accidents this year is likely more as compared to last year.
According to the report, from 1998 to 2000 the total accidents reported were 3,717; the period 2001 to 2003 recorded 5,939 road accidents, however during 2004 to 2007 at least 12,911 accidents were recorded.
SSP Traffic police Abdul Hamid Bhat said that as of now there are more than three lakh vehicles in the valley. Traffic police is cracking down on speeding trucks and tippers, driven recklessly as these have been involved in numerous accidents. In the last several months, traffic police has booked numerous erring drivers and extricated fine from them for reckless driving, he added. Moreso, Tata sumo and mini bus drivers have also been booked.
According to traffic police officials' lack of manpower is hindering the proper enforcement of traffic laws. They maintain that in whole Kashmir division we have identified 207 traffic check posts where we need to deploy cops. However, due to lack of staff we could only deploy them at 96 check posts.
Experts blame improper road designs as another major cause of road accidents. "Our roads lack life safety features as there is no concept of engineering. What we had 50 years back in terms of road design continues to be the same,'' maintains Nazir Qadiri, J.E, R&B
Adding further he said there is no appropriate designation marks, or lines on the surface of the roadway, crosswalks or intersections where there is particular danger to the pedestrians crossing the roadway or where it may deem necessary to prevent road accidents. Further, to prevent traffic jams there is dire need to construct parking slots. |
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