Jammu, September 21: The unabated accidents on roads in Jammu and Kashmir leading to unnecessary deaths and injuries to thousands of people every year have become a major concern among the people of the state even as the authorities that are responsible to manage the roads seem completely blank on how to deal with the ever growing grim situation.
The whole situation is only going from bad to worse in the state and people continue to pay the price for traffic mismanagement with their precious lives.
No doubt the vehicle owners and drivers are also to be blamed for the mess on the roads but the fact remains that the authorities that are appointed to manage the roads are clueless about the solution even as the so called targets of affecting numerous challans are achieved year after year only to present a rosy picture before the higher authorities.
The million dollar question is whether the so called challans are any solution to correct the mess on the roads and whether these challans have been effective in preventing traffic violations or tragic road accidents in the state.
If we take in account the number of accidents on major highways of the state like Jammu-Pathankot highway, Jammu Srinagar highway, Jammu-Doda highway and the local roads of Jammu and Srinagar where traffic volume is enormous the accident rate has increased manifolds during the past few years.
The road accidents on these highways or the local roads are mostly fatal while the authorities are unmoved to take corrective measures as even the resentment of Governor and the Chief Minister of the state from time to time does not seem to have made any difference as the authorities that manage these rods lack innovation and refuse to learn from the innovative steps taken by others.
The state Governor and the Chief Minister have time and again sought reports and snubbed the traffic authorities for accidents particularly on Doda-Kishtwar roads where a single accident claims scores of lives every now and then.
But the administration on its part is not taking any concrete steps like equipping the traffic department with new technology and training by utilizing the research and corrective measures taken by the developed countries.
The situation has reached to a point where a person who leaves home for a long journey has no guarantee that he will return home safely as the roads are left to the mercy of rashly driven vehicles and chaotic traffic coming from all directions while the managers are sitting somewhere else achieving their targets of affecting maximum challans.
One wonders whether the only innovation for the past six decades has been increasing the volume of the challans rather than preventing traffic violations and accidents.
One can see the plight of a common man who tries to follow the traffic rules in the city where traffic signals are there for the ornamental sake only with no traffic police officer near the site to check the traffic violation while the rule breakers have field day and the common man who follows the rules is left embarrassed with others zipping past the red signals with impunity.
One such incident was witnessed recently at Jewel Chowk traffic signal where an upright common man stopped his vehicle on seeing a red traffic signal while all others zipped past him poking fun at him. The man kept waiting and when he finally tried to cross on the green signal was hit by another violator from other side throwing the man some meters away. However the traffic police officers who as usual were huddled inside the traffic beat box did not notice such an accident and were informed only after some passersby helped the man to safety.
With such behavior of the traffic managers on roads one can only wonder if at all the roads in the state become safer sometime in future. Till then the common man will continue to pay the price for the mismanagement of traffic at the hands of the traffic managers.