Road mishaps: Azad urges admin, police to enforce safety measures
Jammu: Democratic Progressive Azad Party chief Ghulam Nabi Azad urged the administration and police on Friday to enforce safety measures for preventing road accidents.
His remarks came after visiting the site in Doda district where a passenger bus fell into a gorge, killing 39 people and injuring 19. The bus skidded off the road and rolled into the 300-foot gorge in the district’s Thurgal Assar area on Wednesday.
The Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairman said the administration and the police should enforce safety measures to prevent deaths due to accidents in the Chenab Valley.
The authorities need to focus on three to four things to check accidents here, Azad told reporters.
“You have to stop vehicles from speeding or rash driving, increase the number of traffic cops commensurate with the population, stop the use of mobiles, and overloading,” he said.
Asserting that these measures will be instrumental in stopping accidents, Azad said, “The police and the administration need to be vigilant. People should also drive carefully.”
“The highest number of road accidents are taking place in the Chenab Valley. Since I grew up, 10,000 to 15,000 people have died in accidents in the valley. We need to prevent people dying in accidents,” Azad added.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has set up a three-member panel to investigate the circumstance leading to the accident.
Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar also visited Doda to instruct the officers to take measures to prevent accidents.
Azad also visited the families affected by the fire in the Bhaderwah area.
Six multi-storey houses and two commercial buildings were gutted in a massive fire that broke out in the Green Colony of the Chinnote area due to a short circuit on Thursday.
Azad also interacted with party workers in Bhaderwah and discussed various issues confronting the people of the valley.
Meanwhile, in a crackdown on traffic violators, the Jammu and Kashmir Police fined the owners of 298 vehicles and impounded 20 of them in Doda and Rajouri districts, officials said on Friday.
Three drivers have also been arrested during the drive against violation of the Motor Vehicles rules, they said.
The action has been taken by the police and the administration in view of public complaints of overloading, rash driving and bad condition of roads following the devastating accident in Trungal Assar area of Doda district that led to the death of 39 people and injuries to 19 on Wednesday.
“Going tough against the traffic violators, the police has launched a special drive and intensified checking against the traffic violators on all routes throughout the district. We have challaned 132 vehicles and seized 13,” an official said.
Five FIRs were also registered against the drivers for overloading, police said, adding that the offenders were arrested and the vehicles were impounded.
The police launched a district-wide drive in Rajouri and fined 166 violators besides impounding seven vehicles whereas one case has been registered at the Manjakote police station for dangerous driving, they said.
Police said an appeal was made to all people to follow the traffic rules in letter and spirit, and to ensure a proper coordination with the law enforcement agency for prevention of road accidents.
Press Trust of India
