By Alkesh Sharma, IANS,
Chandigarh: A busy stretch on National Highway 22 that connects Chandigarh to Ambala and gets heavy traffic to and from Delhi is fast becoming a killer road, with one person dying in an accident every four days, reveal police records.
Running through Punjab, between the Zirakpur and Lalru towns, it has one dangerous accident every two days, the records say. In nearly 160 accidents on this stretch from January to November this year, 90 people, including 13 women and one child, were killed. In 2008, nearly 120 accidents were reported on this highway in the corresponding period.
“A rising number of road accidents on this highway is a serous issue for us and we are busy drafting some foolproof plan to curb this graph,” district police chief Gurpreet Singh Bhullar told IANS.
“Working in this direction, we held a meeting with the Mohali deputy commissioner. We have decided to constitute an advisory committee involving all the officials concerned to suggest measures to make this area accident-free,” said Bhullar.
On Dec 3, two businessmen were burnt to death when their car hit an oil tanker that was taking a turn from the wrong side on the highway in Zirakpur.
According to police records, most of the accidents involve overspeeding trucks, tractor-trolleys, cars and auto-rickshaws. Many of the incidents are hit-and-run cases.
It is a 35-km stretch of National Highway 22 and involves three major stations: Zirakpur (neighbouring Chandigarh), Derabassi and Lalru, before entering Ambala city in Haryana.
Every day hundreds of vehicles travelling to and from Delhi pass through this highway.
“After studying past cases of accidents we have identified certain accident- prone areas. We would also increase the strength of our patrolling staff to keep a strong vigil on the highways,” stated Bhullar.
Deepinder Sharma, a government school teacher in Lalru who commutes on this highway every day, said, “One of the major reasons behind these accidents is rash driving by truck drivers. Most of the time they are driving in an inebriated condition and are least bothered about other vehicles.”
“Many times trucks are parked on the roadside, leaving very little space for other vehicles and causing frequent traffic jams. We want more police barricades on this highway to keep the situation under control. They should heavily challan (traffic ticket) people who drive after consuming liquor,” said Sharma.
In late November, two motorcyclists were mowed down by a speeding truck and a 22-year-old girl was killed after being hit by another truck near Derabassi.
“Adjoining the highway, there are many marriage venues that do not have sufficient parking space. Due to this hundreds of cars are parked on the main highway posing problems for other vehicles passing through the highway,” said Nishant Jain, a resident of Zirakpur town.
(Alkesh Sharma can be contacted at [email protected])