Srinagar, Jul 08 (KNS): The government has shelved a report that was submitted six years ago by a committee headed by M Y Tarigami for curbing growing road accidents in the state.
In April 2012, a committee headed by M Y Tarigami submitted a report to the government.
It had come up with a slew of recommendations for the transport, traffic department, R&B, and other departments for curbing the growing road accidents.
It had found increase in the number of vehicles, narrow and faulty roads, negligent driving, and ageing vehicles among the reasons for growing accidents in J&K.
Over six-years down the line, the government is yet to act on its recommendations. “Nothing has been done on its recommendations over the years,” a source told KNS.
This is despite that there has been growing road accidents over the years.
Recently, the Chenab Valley in Jammu region with tough terrain has witnessed a steep increase in the accidents over the past few years. As many as 35 people lost their lives after a minibus skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Kishtwar district.
Similarly, at least 11 students were killed and seven others injured when a Tempo they were travelling in crashed after plummeting around 500 feet down a gorge along the mountainous Mughal road in Shopian district.
As per the figures of Traffic Department, over 9000 people died and almost 80,000 got injured in 56000 road accidents for last nine years.
During 2018, 984 people lost their lives in 5978 road accidents. The road accidents claimed 926, 958, 917 lives during 2017 and 2016, and 2015, respectively.
For last one decade, the government made tall claims to prevent such incidents. However, the government's announcements have been confined to papers only.
An official of Transport Department said that all these announcements have been confined to papers only. “The government last year also announced that Rs 8 crore will be spent on road safety. The government has also announced implementation of action master plan for curbing on road accidents. All these decisions are yet to be implemented,” the official said.
A senior official said, “The government has taken several initiatives like road accident data management system to know road accident data after a mishap. Funds have also been released for safety of road accidents.” (KNS)