DODA , MAR 02 (KNO) : Chenab Valley killer roads are becoming a nightmare for the traffic police. Lack of manpower, infrastructure and long working hours pose a big challenge for the ill-equipped traffic police as they try to control the increasing chaos which clearly indicates that traffic has never been a concern of any government .
The traffic police in Doda and Kishtwar district are grappling with a severe manpower shortage to regulate the movement of vehicles in about 12 hours a day with only 75 cops .In Doda and Kishtwar according to sources there is need of 1000 cops which included one sub inspector for all major towns of Bhaderwah , Doda , Kishtwar , Batote and Thatri . Presently in whole Doda and Kishtwar district there is only two Section officers .
No major recruitment done in recent times even as thousands are retiring every year. “It is extremely painful to see pedestrians being mowed down by speeding vehicles. People think seeing death on the roads is our routine duty on killer roads , but no one realises the nightmares we go through,” a constable said in the condition of anonymity .
Traffic Police in Doda ,Bhaderwah ,Thatri , Batote ,Pul Doda , Kishtwar , Pranoo , Bhalla and other areas are also unable to take action against illegal parking and encroachment as it have not a single vehicle lifters to clean the main roads from illegal parking.The wrongly parked vehicles during peak hours aggravated traffic issues in all main roads and towns . A citizen from Bhaderwah , said that wrongly parked vehicles on the road connecting main roads to other roads causing traffic jam on both sides, adding that wrong parking could be dealt by provision of lifting and toeing vehicles to the police stations .
Traffic Police in Chenab valley should be equipped with more human resources, fork lifters and other equipments to end the illegal parking from all towns and roads , he added.Sources told that the available strength was insufficient to regulate traffic as there was a need of at least 700 cops which included sub Sub inspectors, Inspectors , Section Officers and a well-planned infrastructure to ensure smooth traffic.“Despite the fact that the traffic police play the most crucial role in enforcing traffic rules, no government has given a patient hearing to us or done anything about the several proposals forwarded to them,” an official said.It is worthwhile to mention here that the percentage of deaths in road accidents in JK is 66 percent as compared to the 37 percent at the national level.Official sources said
the rash driving by the ill-experienced drivers are the main reason for increasing road accidents on Chenab Valley roads in Doda , Bhaderwah , Kishtwar and Ramban . Sources said the licenses were being issued even to minors and many do not qualify the driving test which is mandatory for getting the license.
"We are not able to check the licenses and other documents of every one due to lack of manpower," a senior official of traffic department said."We are not able to cater the traffic movement. Due to lack of man power, least surveillance is being kept whether traffic rules are being followed by the drivers," a senior official of traffic department said.He said government should conduct a major recruitment drive of traffic personnel in the state especially for hilly distrcits which included Doda and Kishtwar for manning the traffic movement which would help in decreasing the number of road accidents.
Since 2004, vehicles have killed 46% more people – including civilians, security forces and militants – in Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) than armed violence, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of state police and Indian home ministry data.More civilians have died in traffic accidents in the 13 years since 2004 than in armed conflict in twice as many years (since it began in 1989-90), as per records from the J-K traffic police and the central ministry of home affairs (MHA).J-K topped the list of “high accidental death-prone areas” in a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) survey conducted in 2013, 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.J-K’s traffic police blame the accidents on negligent driving on tricky and winding mountainous roads, while residents point out that paucity of public transport options has led to a surge in vehicle ownership, increasing the odds of mishaps.It is high time for new IGP Traffic Basant Rath to look into the killer roads of Chenab valley and equip traffic police with manpower and infrastructure .(KNO)