Over 600 killed this year in Himachal accidents

SHIMLA - More than 600 people have been killed this year in various road accidents in Himachal Pradesh. Rash driving, overloading, untrained drivers and poor roads are among the factors that have led to the rise in fatal accidents, an official said here Saturday.

Police records say 72 people have died since Wednesday in five accidents in the state.

These include two major accidents — 39 people, including 22 women, were killed and an equal number were injured in Mandi district when an overcrowded truck fell into a gorge Wednesday, and 25 people were killed when an overcrowded bus fell into a gorge in Shimla district Thursday.

Inspector General of Police (Traffic) Pradeep Kumar Sarpal told IANS: “We are strictly enforcing traffic laws. Our emphasis is on manning traffic on all national and state highways, but still 610 people have died in various road accidents in the state.”

He said police have identified 556 accident-prone spots, including 210 on national highways, in the state.

“We have asked the state Public Works Department (PWD) to construct parapets and widen the roads in the accident-prone areas to minimise accidents,” he added.

Another police officer, on condition of anonymity, said the police submitted a list of ‘black spots’ to the PWD almost a year back but nothing much has been done so far.

He said the PWD has not been able to effectively maintain roads, especially in interior areas, throughout the year.

Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Vidya Stokes said the recent accidents have once again exposed the failure of the government.

“These accidents have once again exposed the government for its lack of preparedness in handling disasters and lack of coordination between the transport authority and the police in checking overloading, reckless and drunken driving,” she added.

In Wednesday’s accident, in which 39 people of close-knit families were killed, the driver was drunk and the vehicle was overcrowded. Moreover, to squeeze more people in the truck, the driver had turned it into a double-decker by fitting wooden slats.

Stokes said the condition of roads in the interior areas of the state is quite bad.

“This year, the monsoon is quite plentiful. The movement of trucks laden with apples, as the harvesting of apples is on, has made the roads worst. The government should repair the roads well before the onset of the monsoon to minimise its damage during rains,” she added.

PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur informed the state assembly Friday that losses to poor condition of roads in the recent rains till date has been assessed at Rs.170.64 crore and the figure would go up by the end of monsoon (Sep 15).

According to police records, around 9,000 people have been killed in road accidents in the past 10 years.

The number of accidental deaths touched at an all-time high in 2007, when 979 people lost their lives in 2,955 accidents.