There could be several factors contributing to causing fatal accidents just like as we saw happening in Sawjian, Poonch. At just the sight of the road, one gets to know how dilapidated the road is. At the same time, one more question arises: how were the authorities even allowing the heavy passenger vehicles to ply on road? Even though those at the helm of affairs express sorrow, and sympathize with the families of the victims, who is going to ask and find out: what went wrong and what led to the accident? As of now, nobody: because such cases end with the announcement of ex gratia and preventive measures are hardly taken.
What needs to be noted here is that the mountainous roads are prone to accidents in J&K and the situation is no different on city roads where precious lives are lost mostly due to the carelessness of the drivers on roads. It is overspeeding which mostly kills on city roads, while on hilly roads, factors such as loss of control, failure of mechanics, and loss of balance due to bad road conditions end up causing grave road accidents. Some roads see such accidents on and off in Kashmir while there also are roads where the accidents are rare. Shouldn’t that ignite the curiosity of those at the helm of affairs?
The authorities, especially the policymakers cannot sit and watch people dying in road accidents, especially those occurring in difficult terrain. There has to be something that needs to be done to prevent enormous loss of lives because extrinsic factors in such situations play a major role in comparison to intrinsic ones. To begin with—and there is a lot that could be done—there is a need for a code of correction in the road network in J&K, putting up necessary signage on dangerous curves along all the roads, ensuring implementation of Motor Licence Amendment rules for fitness, and having zero tolerance toward allowing old vehicles to ply on roads. We must act to save precious human lives!
