SHAKEELA ANDRABI
SRINAGAR: The number of vehicle in union territory of Jammu & Kashmir have doubled in last seven years, going up from 12 lakh in 2015 to 24 lakh in 2022. It is not a major issue that number of vehicles is increasing but major concern is that number of road accidents is increasing. People are blaming RTO Srinagar and Jammu including ARTOs in various districts for allegedly not performing their duties seriously. According to local residents, issuance of licenses without clearing test at many places, poor road connectivity, driving while using mobile phones and alcohol consumption are some of the issues responsible for increasing road accidents.
Eleven people, including four women, were killed after a minibus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge near Brari Nallah area of Saujian in Poonch on September 14. Eight people died in hilly Kishtwar district’s remotest Marwah area after a Tata Sumo fell into a deep gorge on November 16. Five people died and 12 others suffered injuries after a private bus plunged into a gorge on Rajouri-Poonch highway on September 15. Five people were killed in two separate road accidents in Doda district on September 5. An Executive Engineer of R&B Department among three other people also died in a road accident in Doda on November 14. Four people of a family died in a road accident in Chenani Tehsil of Udhampur district on November 29. The deceased were travelling in a private car from Gool Sangaldan to Udhampur. Two people died after a truck carrying LPG cylinders met with accident in Ramban on December 26, while 21 persons got injured in four different road accidents in Jammu city and out-skirts on December 3, 2022.
These are just tip of an iceberg and in past 11 months alone, nearly 700 people lost their lives in over 5,192 road accidents with highest 80 people killed only in Kathua district followed by 79 casualties in Jammu district. Highest 946 accidents were reported from Jammu district in Jammu province.
In Kashmir province, 366 accidents were reported from Srinagar district with 46 casualties. In the same period, 35 people died in Anantnag followed by 20 deaths in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. In 2021, 774 people were killed in road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir and 6972 suffered injuries. In 2020, 728 people lost their lives in road accidents and 5894 were injured. The death toll in road accidents in 2019 was 996 with 7532 injuries reported in a 12 months period. A senior police officer, wishing anonymity, said that there are different reasons for accidents both on highways and interiors. On highways, he said, the accidents primarily happen due to liquor consumption and rash driving besides overloading, poor condition of roads, shortage of vehicles and lack of awareness among drivers and passengers. “Government officers issue permits to different types of passenger vehicles without noticing departure time. So when all vehicles move at the same time, the drivers indulge in racing to pick-up more passengers thereby resulting in over-speeding and accidents,” people said, adding that same needs to be checked.