Seven persons were killed and 18 others injured in different road accidents due to fog prompting Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to direct officials to take steps to protect people from biting cold that has set in.
Reports reaching lucknow said that seven people died in different accidents across UP. Four of them died in Sonebhadra when a tractor trolley they were traveling in turned turtle and fell into a ditch in Markundi area. The police said that the driver probably failed to see the turn due to fog resulting in the accident.
In Chitrakoot, the driver of a speeding truck (UP78AT-0423) lost control over the vehicle and crushed two labourers sitting on the roadside around a bonfire. Another person died in Allahabad.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has directed district officials to arrange bonfires and blankets for the poor so as to protect them from the biting cold that has set in across the state.
“Budget has been allocated to each district. It is responsibility of the DMs to organise bonfires and blankets for the poor and homeless,” Yadav said in a statement issued in lucknow on Thursday.
A Government spokesman said that officials have been asked to light bonfires at public places at prominent city junctions like bus stands, outside railway stations and important crossings of the state.
He said that the government has allocated Rs 1.70 crore for bonfires and Rs 17 crore for purchase and distribution of blankets among poor. “Any laxity on the part of officials will not be tolerated,” the spokesman said.