Unending road mishaps
The festival of Eid has passed and once again it has left us with a reminder that people across the region have to put in more efforts and concerns to ensure that they drive safely and follow traffic rules and regulations.
During Eid festivities dozens of incidents have come to fore where people especially the youth resorted to rash driving resulting in many mishaps. Not only did several dozen vehicles get damaged during these mishaps but several lives were also lost.
Ironically, Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing an upward trend in road mishaps year on year. These mishaps are taking place primarily because we are a hilly region and to negotiate the roads in rough weather conditions becomes all the more difficult.
However, our road mishap numbers are high in the plains as well as most of the mishaps occur due to rash and negligent driving.
Jammu and Kashmir, especially Kashmir region has recorded an alarming rise in road accidents. During the previous year a staggering 4,800 accidents were reported leading to around 693 deaths and injuries to around 7000 people.
Official date reveals stark figures across both Jammu and Kashmir regions with May 2024 reporting the highest spike in both accidents and fatalities as a total of 597 accidents took place in the month, leading to 98 fatalities. While this sharp increase has raised alarm among safety officials, the monthly figures indicate a peak in road incidents during this period.
According to the data, on average, over 16 accidents have occurred daily across the region from January to December last year, pointing to an unrelenting rise in incidents despite various safety campaigns.
Social activists observing the happening state that reckless driving, poor road conditions and challenging terrain, may be contributing to the high accident rates.
Notably, the statistics from Kashmir valley reveal stark figures as the region reported 1,822 accidents with 2720 fatalities during the previous year, with Srinagar reporting 362 accidents and 36 fatalities, the highest in the Kashmir region, followed by district Anantnag with 254 accidents and 35 fatalities.
The data for Jammu reveal that Jammu district has recorded the most incidents, with 807 accidents and 96 deaths, positioning it as the hardest-hit area in terms of both frequency and fatality rate.
According to social activists, the high frequency of accidents in Jammu district and the fatalities in Srinagar point to a growing concern for road safety in these critical regions.
As both urban centers and rural areas are impacted authorities across the UT need to implement more stringent traffic regulations, improve road conditions and launch safety awareness campaigns to reduce these disturbing numbers.
While the traffic police is doing a commendable job in most of the area, it becomes quite the more difficult for them to keep an eye on the unmanned roads and crossing where most of the mishaps are occurring.
In simple words the menace of increased road mishaps in Jammu and Kashmir needs a whole hearted effort from all of us. Be it the traffic police, the administration or civil society groups- all us need to pool in our resources and help in improve the situation.
Though the issue is very serious in nature we have to act at our own level and educate people within our families on road rules and regulations so that the number of mishaps is curtailed.
The more the number of road accidents, the more the losses we suffer in terms of human resource and even financially.
