In an instance of State police top brass tightening screws around the sub-ordinates in the districts, the Udham Singh Nagar district police chief has been asked strictly to bring down the number of road accidents that happen in a month at least by half in the district.
The district accounts for the maximum number of road accidents in the State. In case he fails to curb them by a half, he would have to face the consequences, the senior cops said in not-so-veiled warning. It was said that the performance of the district police chief would be measured in terms of the reduction of road accidents in the district.
It should be mentioned here that this is the third term as SSP of Udham Singh Nagar for Anant Shankar Takwale.
A senior police officer said while insisting on anonymity that the rash driving, drunk driving, riding bikes sans helmet, the norms being taken lightly by the drivers are reasons among others which are leading to the spiraling number of road mishaps taking toll of human lives in the district.
He further said that the police are to blame too as they mostly care a damn for the traffic norms being observed on the roads. “Things are assuming grim proportions with casualties happening almost daily, taking the toll to a worrisome figure. Unless we crack the whip things would go from bad to worse,” he said.
According to senior police officers, the district cops have been directed to work in sync with other departments like the road—repairing department and the one that launches anti-encroachment drives.
Police headquarter report on accidents has revealed a grim picture by all accounts. From January 1 to May 31, 2016, as many as 185 road accidents were reported in Udham Singh Nagar district. The figure is more than the ones given by other districts of the state for the same period.
In all, 114 persons died in 185 road accidents while 159 were injured in the district. From January 1 to 31 May, 2015, 152 road accidents were reported from the district in which 119 persons died and 91 were injured. For the corresponding period in 2014, 157 road accidents were reported from the district with the casualty and injury figures standing at 98 and 126 respectively.
However, the district police officials claim that they are leaving no stone unturned to restrain the spiraling graph of road accidents. Aside from reining in rash and drunk driving, they said they had identified the accident-prone roads to control accidents. “We would put out all the stops to rise to the challenge our seniors have thrown to us,” said a senior police officer from the district.