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Another bus tragedy

Rajouri mishap reaffirms neglect of road safety

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The new year has begun with the same old story — a fatal road mishap. Nine persons were killed and 37 injured when a private bus rolled down a gorge on the Jammu-Poonch highway in Rajouri district on Thursday. According to reports, the driver — who was using a mobile phone — lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a sharp curve. Prima facie, the accident was caused by the driver’s negligence, but the fact that the bus was overloaded points to the laxity of the law-enforcing authorities. Last year, 44 lives were lost when an overloaded bus rolled down a nullah in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district, while, in another incident, 12 persons were killed when a bus fell into a gorge in Chamba district.

The scene of the mishap and the number of casualties might vary, but the script stays the same: the administration announces compensation; political leaders mourn the deaths; local residents raise a hue and cry over criminal neglect of road safety — yet nothing changes on the ground. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, features stricter penalties for violations of traffic rules, but enforcement leaves a lot to be desired. The licensing authority has the power to cancel a driver’s licence for a wide range of offences, including drunk driving, speeding and overloading, but such necessary action is rarely taken. Even the licences, in many cases, are obtained through underhand methods.

With an average of about 1.5 lakh deaths per year in accidents, as per official data, India has the dubious distinction of being the most unsafe country in the world for road users. Though India is a signatory to the 2015 Brasilia declaration, under which it pledged to halve the road mishap deaths by 2020, the bodies of hapless victims keep piling up. It’s obvious that the country has miserably failed to reach anywhere near this target. The Central government prides itself on constructing roads at an unprecedented pace, but unless due importance is accorded to road safety and officials are brought to book for dereliction of duty, the job will remain only half-done.

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