Jammu, December 2: 14 September 2022 Poonch Accident: Eleven people including 4 women were killed when a minibus skidded off the road and plunged into a deep canyon near the BrariNallah area of Saujian in Poonch on 14 September.
November 16, Marwa accident: Eight people were killed in the most remote Marwah district of the Kishtwar district after the TaTa Sumo plunged into a deep gorge on November 16.
Rajouri accident, 15 September: Five people were killed and 12 injured when a private bus plunged into a gorge on the Rajouri-Poonch highway on 15 September.
September 5, Doda Accident: Five people were killed in two separate traffic accidents in the Doda district on September 5.
R&B unit XEn and three others were also killed in a car accident in Doda on November 14. Officials are returning home from Jammu.
Accident in Udhampur, November 29: On November 29, a family of four died in a car accident in Chenani Tehsil, Udhampur district. The deceased was traveling from Gool Sangaldan to Udhampur in a private car.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. In the past 10 months alone, 677 people were killed in over 5,189 road accidents, with 80 fatalities in Jammu’s Kathua district alone, followed by 79 casualties in Jammu district.
Far more people are killed in accidents than in armed-related incidents.
However, according to government data provided by the Rising Kashmir newspaper, 677 people died and 7152 were injured out of 5189 traffic accidents. Of the total accidents reported over the 10-month period, 545 were fatal and 4644 were non-fatal.
While Jammu district of Jammu province had the highest number of reported accidents at 946, Kathua district had the highest number of fatalities with 80, followed by Jammu district with 79 fatalities and Udanpur district with 61 casualties , with 398 incidents reported in 10 months.
In Kashmir province, Srinagar district reported the highest number of casualties (46) with 366 accidents. During the same period, 35 people died in Anantnag, followed by 20 in the Baramulla district of northern Kashmir.
Last year (2021), there were 774 deaths and 6,972 injuries in traffic accidents in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2020, a total of 728 people were killed and 5,894 injured in road accidents. There were 996 road fatalities in 2019 and 7532 injuries were reported in 12 months.
reason behind the accident
A senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the causes of accidents on highways and indoors varied.
On highways, he said, accidents were mainly due to drivers drinking alcohol and reckless driving, but on the periphery, he said, accidents occurred due to various reasons including overcrowding, poor road conditions, shortage and lack of vehicles. Driver and passenger awareness.
For highways, he said, “The traffic police have launched several initiatives to check for reckless driving and the threat of drunkenness. Every Saturday and Sunday, special drives are held in the Jammu area to ensure that drunken drivers are challenged.”
“But challenges alone won’t help,” he said, adding that “counseling and awareness will definitely make a difference”.
“In terms of interiors, we need to look at different factors to stop recurring accidents,” he said.
“Administrators randomly issue licenses”
Atul Singh, who frequently drives his private car between Udhampur and hilly Ramnagar, claimed that the main cause of in-vehicle accidents was competition among drivers.
“Government officials issue permits to different types of passenger vehicles without notifying the departure time of different vehicles. So when all the vehicles are moving at the same time, the drivers become addicted to racing to carry more passengers. This leads to speeding and accidents,” he said.
Katra transporter Pardeep Singh also believes that the accident happened only because of a lack of inspection of the vehicles driving inside.
“Indoors, minibuses, taxis and other small passenger vehicles travel longer distances than allowed. The increase in the number of vehicles on the same route leads to competition, which leads to accidents. This needs to be checked,” he said.
He also accused authorities of failing to check the licenses of drivers in surrounding areas.
