Rising number of road accidents has left the people and the State administrative officers worried. Statistics on road accidents for the past 15 years have revealed that around 12-15 road accidents are being reported from various parts of the State in a month on an average, resulting in the death of around ten persons. Over-speeding, rash driving, triple-riding, drunk driving and the dilapidated roads are what are leading to the people dying on the roads or getting crippled in such a frightfully large number.
Sounding anguished over the people dying this way with the authorities, entrusted to stop these, hibernating, many say the accidents are triggering more deaths than the natural disasters bring about if accounts of one year are taken. The reports are indeed grim-the number of road accidents happening in the state is a staggering 19, 662 while the number of consequent deaths is 13, 488.
As per the reports, road accidents have been reported more in the plain districts like Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, Dehradun and Haridwar than in the mountainous districts.
Among the plain districts, a total of 4728 accidents and 2459 deaths have occurred in Dehradun district over the past 15 years. The figures are 4186 and 2890 respectively for Haridwar district; 2567 and 1404 in Nainital and 4908 and 3192 in Udham Singh Nagar.
The police and transport departments claiming to launch drives against traffic rule violation from time to time, deaths happening on the roads present a grim reality.
In the mountainous parts of the state, 261 accidents and 404 deaths have been reported from Uttarkashi district over the past 15 years while the figures are 628 and 744 from Tehri; 572 and 884 from Chamoli; 264 and 306 from in Rudraprayag ; 383 and 266 from Pauri; 253 and 202 from Almora; 447 and 382 from Pithoragarh; 357 and 281 from Champawat and 108 and 74 from Bageshwar.
Dehradun additional DM Jharna Kamthan said that the State government provides compensation of Rs 50, 000 to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 20, 000 to the injured regarding accidents involving state transport buses. He, however, claimed that the numbers of accidents and deaths in Dehradun district from State transport buses are small.
Observers opine that the State transport department must wake up from their slumber and take the bulls by the horns. “It is sad that despite City Petrol Unit (CPU) personnel remaining deployed to impose penalty on traffic violations for around a year in Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital districts, deaths are occurring here in far greater number than elsewhere in the State. Poor road engineering, failure in traffic enforcement and rampant corruption in the matter of issuance of driving licenses indulged in by the regional transport department officials are what account for the spurt in the number of road accidents in the State. The common people at the same time must behave more responsibly. They should themselves abide by the traffic rules and stop their under-age children from driving vehicles. This would also go a long way in mitigating such deaths,” said one of the observers.