The alarming increase in the road accidents has become a talk of town these days in Jammu and Kashmir and it is very shocking because it leads to the killings of the innocent precious lives and also injuries to many. Unfortunately J&K is facing road accidents almost daily and it is a cause of utmost and grave concern to the government of the Union Territory and the general public as well. Hundreds of precious lives are lost in these road accidents which is very sad, infact these accidents take a heavy toll of precious human lives. The road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir are hogging the T.V and radio headlines. As one switches on the T.V or radio one hears the bad news of some road accident taking place and the passengers been killed and some injured. Every day people hear the bad news about the unfortunate road accidents on the national highway near other Ramban, Banihal, Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhmpur, Katua, Samba and where not. The road accidents take place everywhere in the territory of Jammu and Kashmir and innocent human lives are lost in these road accidents. During the last one year there has been a steep increase in road accidents in J&K with a large number of the people losing their lives as a result of the accidents and falling victim to these accidents. A big number of the passengers get injured in the road accidents and some are handicapped as they lose legs and some lose hands. It is a harrowing seen to see the accidents and the rescue operations militancy related deaths in 2021.The figures reveal that last year 728 people were killed and 5894 were injured in road accidents in J&K while the number was 996 deaths in 2020. Over 8000 accidents and 1750 deaths on Srinagar-Jammu highway in the past decade had happened and experts blame bad engineering for all such catastrophe.
In three years highway accidents claimed 2708 lives in J&K in 16834 fatal road accidents on highways. A day before writing this write up there was a car accident in Ramban in which a car collided with a container and three people lost their lives including national level women players. Besides on the same day an accident took place in Kathua in which two persons were killed. Thus the situation is alarming and the government needs to take these road accidents very seriously. The government needs to take serious view of these road accidents which have become almost a daily occurrence. The government should exert its pressure and show its existence by taking concrete steps to prevent and reduce the accidents. The increasing number of accidents is a big challenge to the government especially to the traffic department and traffic police. But the government and traffic and executive police only cannot prevent and reduce road accidents. The Transport operators, bus drivers, conductors and the general people should play their positive role and cooperate with the governmental agencies to reduce and prevent road accidents. The shabby condition of majority of roads particularly the road between Ramban and Banihal is vulnerable to road accidents so often and therefore steps need to be taken to improve the condition of roads and macadamize the roads on priority so that the roads become accident free. Another reason which is the cause of the road accidents is overloading and over speeding .The buses ply on the roads jam-packed and the speed of the buses and matadors is very fast which more often than not result in shocking road accidents which consume a big number of the innocent passengers.
The use of alcohol while driving is the main cause of the road accidents and the drivers should not take whine while driving because it leads to accidents and loss of human lives and also to serious and ordinary injuries. The government should improve the condition of roads and also should not allow the drivers to run vehicles in drunken condition. Those drivers who are driving vehicles while drinking should be challenged and punished and their licenses should be withdrawn. The drivers should be challaned or fined on spot for over speeding. Moreover those drivers who indulge in overloading should also be challaned or alternatively fined so that the accidents will not happen and shock the people. The accident scenes are heart rending and heart wrenching and as such these should not be allowed to happen. For this the government, its traffic department should take all the necessary steps to arrest the trend of increasing accidents so that the precious lives of the passengers are saved. The pertinent question is why the accidents take place at an alarming rate and continuously? There is no single cause which contributes to increased number of road accidents but a multiplicity of causes lead to road accidents. The rash driving and over speeding is a very important cause of road accidents. The drivers are habitual of driving the vehicles at a fast speed unmindful of its dangers and consequences and it often results in accidents which consume lives of the people travelling in the vehicles which are operated at a high speed. Similarly overloading and jam packed vehicles is a dominant cause of the happening of the accidents. The bus and matador operators often indulge in overloading for making quick money and this often than not result in accidents which cause the loss of lives and also leads to injuries to many passengers. The drinking and consumption of alcohol and driving vehicles in drunken condition is a major cause of accidents. The drivers often use and take alcohol while driving and this mixing of alcohol and driving leads to accidents so often. (To Be Continued)

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