Report by Transport Research Wing of GoI says 5978 accidents witnessed in 2018
Owais Gul
Srinagar: At least 984 persons were killed in road accidents in Jammu & Kashmir during 2018 year, an official report has revealed. The report titled- road accidents in India, 2018- reveals that 984 persons were killed in 809 fatal accidents in J&K during 2018.
According to the wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the report has been prepared by the Transport Research Wing of Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. As per the report, 5978 traffic accidents took place in the erstwhile state during 2018. Among these accidents, 809 were fatal, 2441 grievous accidents, 1952 minor injury accidents and 776 were non-injury accidents
Among 7845 injured during this period, 4169 were grievously wounded and 3676 suffered minor injuries.
The report has once again brought to fore that hundreds of lives were devoured by road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir. A lethal mix of poor road planning, inadequate law enforcement, and a flood of untrained drivers are the apparent reasons behind rising road accidents in J&K.
As per KNO, a panel of Legislative Assembly had also come up with its recommendations in 2012 to curb rising traffic accidents in the erstwhile State. The Committee was constituted by the Speaker after a school bus carrying students met with a road accident while returning from a picnic.
The panel had come up with a slew of recommendations to the Transport department, Traffic department, R&B department and other agencies concerned for curbing rising road accidents.
However, the government is sitting over its recommendations over the past seven years, raising questions on its oft-repeated claims about minimising traffic accidents in J&K.
CPI(M) leader Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami, who was heading the committee, has been repeatedly slamming government for failing to implement its recommendations.
“The recommendations put forth by the committee headed by me have not been implemented so far. This is unfortunate and utter callousness on part of the state administration which owes an explanation on the latest fatal road accident,” he had said. (KNO)
