Lab technician dies in road mishap

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 24

A lab technician working at the Global Hospital, located on Mall road, died in a road mishap in the city. He was returning home after completing his duty on Saturday night on a scooter, when a rashly driven car rammed into his scooter near Ballaram Nagar traffic lights on Barnala bypass. A team from the Civil Lines police station reached the spot and started a probe into the incident.

On the basis of the statement of the deceased’s brother, the police have registered a case against the driver who remains unidentified. The body was today handed over to the family members after conducting a postmortem.

In a statement given to the police, Manpreet Singh, a resident of Khayaliwala village near Goniana Mandi, said that his brother Lakhdeep Singh (26), was working as a lab technician at the Global Hospital and as per his daily routine on Saturday night, was returning home when a rashly driven car knocked him down. He was immediately taken to the Civil Hospital for treatment, where the doctors declared him dead.

It may be mentioned that rash driving and over speeding on the national highway and city roads are rampant causing frequent accidents. The traffic police have been trying to check reckless and rash driving with asingle speed radar gun that they have for the entire district.

As per the data procured from the traffic police, 67 persons were killed in road accidents last year. Besides, 10 persons have lost their lives in various road accidents this year.

The traffic police have identified accident-prone roads like the Bathinda-Barnala highway like the stretch from the Rose Garden chowk to Bibiwala chowk, GT Road, Mall Road and Mansa Road. But with only one speed radar at its disposal, the traffic police find it really difficult to check the menace of rash driving in the city.

More than 50 per cent of the road accidents these days are caused by unidentified vehicles and drivers. This happens when the traffic police do not bother to keep a check on rash driving, drunken driving and underage driving.

City residents allege that though there has been a rise in the number of accident cases, neither the district administration nor the traffic police have initiated any action to check over-speeding on city roads. Besides, they have not even installed a single signboard in the entire city indicating the speed limit.

Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Nanak Singh said the police have only one speed radar in the district, but to check over speeding and other violations of traffic rules, they are installing CCTV cameras in the city and at vital spots on the highways as well. “Moreover, we will also take up the matter of installing speed limit boards on highways with the NHAI,” the SSP assured.