Road accidents kill almost 5000 in 5 years

Srinagar, Aug 11: Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed 4,783 deaths due to road accidents in the last five years. As per the data available with The Kashmir Monitor, the average number of deaths in a year has been over 900 in the state during the period. Last year as many as 926 persons have died in over 5,000 road mishaps across the state. Year 2016 witnessed 958 deaths, while 917 people have died in 2015. The years 2014 and 2013 witnessed 992 and 990 deaths, respectively. Apart from violation of the traffic regulations, the conditions of the roads have also contributed to the deaths in the state to a large extent. In last three years, 89 persons have died in the state wither due to the potholes or bad condition of roads during rains. Sources in the Traffic Department said the delay in adopting the recommendations set by various committees have resulted in the deaths. “Since 2012, scores of recommendations like formations Road Safety Council, constitution of Road Safety Policy, House Committee recommendations by MLA Kulgam 2012 have not seen any progress. The government has been focusing on implementation of traffic regulation while ignoring development of the infrastructure,” a source said. Sources said that most of the accidents took place in hilly roads of the state, particularly Chenab Valley and on Srinagar- Jammu highway, which is considered a treacherous road link due to frequent landslides and shabby roads of the road. The former government led by the PDP- BJP coalition had asked the Deputy Commissioners to formulate district road safety action plan for the respective districts. “The road action plan has remained confined to paper only. Many districts are yet to submit the report due to which a comprehensive plan that they could restrict road accidents has not been framed yet,” the source said. Previously, Jammu and Kashmir topped the list of “high accidental death-prone areas” in a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) survey, which found that an accident in J&K state has a 64% chance of causing death as opposed to 36.4% for all of India.