Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Srinagar, Oct 25 (KNS): Alarmed by the growing number of road accidents and the resulting casualties, the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory traffic police is gearing up to intensify patrolling efforts, particularly along the critical stretches of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Official sources told KNS that top officials within the traffic police department have issued directives to field officers to conduct a comprehensive review of the causes behind the recurring fatal accidents and to take stern measures against traffic violators.
In a recent tragic incident, tragedy struck when a truck loaded with apples met with an accident on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, on the outskirts of Jammu.
The accident claimed the lives of four individuals, including the truck's driver and conductor, as the vehicle collided with the bridge divider before plummeting 70 to 80 feet. The truck was en route from Kashmir to Jammu when the catastrophe unfolded.
In a separate incident in Kishtwar district, three individuals lost their lives in a fatal car accident.
The persistent occurrence of road accidents, particularly on high-altitude routes, has spurred concern among the travelers.
Simultaneously, a senior official from the state's transport department stressed that reducing the number of accidents requires effective intervention from both the police and the regional transport office.
“Road accidents, especially on the National Highway and other roads in Jammu, are reaching alarming proportions. Despite established rules and guidelines for safe driving in mountainous regions, many vehicle drivers are not adhering to these safety measures,” noted sources quoting the Union Territory government.
“The data on road accidents indicates that a significant number of these incidents occur due to driver error, with only a few being attributed to pedestrians. This suggests that authorities need to address the root causes of driver-related accidents and find ways to mitigate these situations," added a government official.
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways conducted research into the factors contributing to the rise in road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir. Their findings highlighted the lack of education, enforcement, engineering, and emergency response as the primary factors responsible for the escalating accident rates.
Official statistics show that the state has reported around 6,000 road accidents annually for the past two years. However, officials believe that the actual number of accidents is considerably higher, as many incidents go unreported.
In 2015, 917 individuals lost their lives in 5,800 road accidents, while in 2016, 910 lives were claimed, with over 8,000 people suffering injuries due to road accidents in the state, particularly in the Jammu region. On average, three people lose their lives daily in the state due to road accidents.
Between 2011 and 2014, 3,960 individuals lost their lives in road accidents, and more than 30,000 people sustained injuries in over 20,000 road accidents.
The statistics indicate that the number of road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir, which claims approximately a thousand lives each year, is double the national average based on the state's population.
Over 60 percent of all natural deaths in Jammu and Kashmir are attributed to road accidents, while the national average is approximately 30 percent.
Sources also revealed that in a 2013 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) survey, Jammu and Kashmir topped the list of "high accidental death-prone areas." The survey found that an accident in Jammu and Kashmir had a 64 percent chance of resulting in death, compared to 36.4 percent for the entire country.(KNS)