Incensed over the death of two members of the religious fraternity in a car accident on National Highway, the fraternity threatened to register a case against the officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) while the local traders demanded the resignation of the Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Notably, city-based Mahant Bhagwan Das and his disciple had been killed while three others had been injured when the car they were travelling in had overturned near Shani Dev temple due to construction works of Haridwar-Delhi National Highway on late Saturday night.
Venting anger over the death of the members of the Udaseen Akhada, the former spokesperson of Akhada Parishad Baba Hathyogi said that the accident had occurred on account of the incomplete National Highway broadening work. “It has been going on for the past many years. We are preparing to file a case against the NHAI officials,” he said. The secretary of Sri Panchayati Niranjani Akhada Mahant Ravindra Puri said that the work continuing for the past eight years since the last 2010 Kumbh Mela, the accident spree is continuing taking toll on lives. “The whole stretch of the highway which passes through the holy city remains dark during the night hours. The potholes gaping along the stretch is compounding things further for the commuters. The accident in which the two from Ramanand Ashram died occurred during the late night hours when things are at their worst. NHAI can hardly shirk responsibility for the procession of deaths,” he said.
Echoing the same sentiment, Mahamandaleshwar Swami Harichetananand said that the company engaged in the project and the traffic police should have put warning signboard, indicating the gap between the two bridges. It must be written here that road related accidents have become a common phenomenon in this area and it must be addressed at any cost.
The national president of All India Akhada Council Mahant Narendra Giri mourned the death of Mahant Bhagwandas in the road accident. “It is an irreparable loss for the saint fraternity,” he said.
Meanwhile, the district president Mahanagar Vyapar Mandal Sunil Sethi said that the real responsibility of the death spree due to the accidents on a particular stretch of National Highway rests with the Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari. “How can he evade responsibility when everybody knows that it is he who awarded the highway broadening work contract to a blacklisted company known for slow pace of work. He thus should quit, taking moral responsibility for the death of the seer,” he said. He exhorted the seers to immediately file a case against the Union minister.
He said, “It is a matter of concern for all of us that the Union minister is still sleeping over accidents snatching lives at regular intervals.” He further warned that they would take to the streets on Tuesday to pressure the NHAI to speed things up to stop more from dying accidental deaths.