Cases of road mishaps at the stretch between Pardih and Chandil on National Highway 33 are on the rise. On Saturday alone in a road mishap, a 30-year-old youth from the steel city was killed as the bike he was riding was hit by an unknown vehicle at Saharbera along the NH-33 under Chandil police station area of the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district. The victim identified as Gunjan Kumar was killed just within one minute of his talking with his father PK Lal over the mobile.
A resident of Baradwari locality of the city, Gunjan had come out of his house at about 4 am to Chandil for work. At about 6.00 am, his father wanted to know about his whereabouts by giving a call over his cellphone. Gunjan had received the call and said he was on his way to Chandil and presently he was at Saharbera. Soon a stranger made some queries and finally informed Lal that his son was killed in a road mishap.
During the past three months 15 mishaps have taken place in which 20 persons were injured on the NH-33 between Pardih to Chandil —a stretch of 20 kilometres. Earlier the traffic was slow as the road of the NH-33 was dotted with potholes, but ever since it was repaired, the vehicle owners tend to drive at high speed.
A police official said that due to lack of check post, reckless driving is also on the rise. More in the last one decade the rise of vehicles particularly, four wheelers have registered manifold increase with each family possessing at least two-wheelers on an average.
“We have found that the drivers of heavy vehicles plying on NH 33 are very careless. The buses are always over loaded and four or five passengers often hang on the foot board. They are fond of overtaking and over speed. For as soon as they get into their vehicles they seem to forget all about the world except themselves. We want the drivers to be instructed to be more active to see that the traffic rules are more effectively enforced on the drivers. Prevention, they should be made to realise, is, in all circumstances better than cure,” said the official.
A traffic official though admitted of lack of technology to detect speed demons but tried to put up a brave front. “We admit that we do not have the technology to catch or prosecute speed demons. However, that does not mean that speed restrictions should not be imposed on NH 33 in view of the rise in road mishaps,” he noted.
