BISWANATH CHARIALI, March 20 - A sizeable section of general citizens here have expressed grave concern over the rising number of accidents on the Biswanath Ghat-Pabhoi Road in Biswanath district.
It may be mentioned here that the said road has been undergoing renovation and widening. It connects the historical Temple Town of Biswanath Ghat with Pabhoi along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
The local people have alleged that the number of accidents witnessed a sudden spurt after renovation of the road had started. Around 16 people lost their lives during the last couple of months in different types of accidents, while several people sustained both major and minor injuries.
Not surprisingly, the root cause of the accidents are primarily due to rash driving by mostly youngsters and so-called �stunt men� and Magic and Tempo drivers which ply along the road.
Madan Soren, Indra Mohan Das, Abdul Ali and Sanjeev Pathak, to name only a few, are some of the ill-fated people who were killed in road mishaps in recent times.
Compounding the problem even further, several educational institutions, including Chariali HS and MP School, Chariali Girls� HS School, District Institute for Education and Training (DIET), Florence Academy, Chariali Academy, Pabhoi LP School, Nagaon LP School, North Bank College, Pearl Academy etc are situated by this road. The situation aggravates every day from 8-30 am to 9 am and likewise from 2-30 pm to 3-30 pm. According to information, as many as 36 cases of accidents have taken place lately.
The worried people have therefore urged the administration to take necessary action to secure the lives and property of the commuters who have to use the road every day in the interest of keeping body and soul together.
Regular checking of vehicles and motorcycles is an urgent need, they opine. The aggrieved people also allege that most of the drivers do not possess valid license or training to drive a motorised vehicle. Awareness campaign is also essential in this respect, they felt. They have also demanded deployment of more traffic police personnel at Hatkhola College Road point on a regular basis.
Seeking respite from this avoidable menace, a Gita and Koran recital programme was organised at Bheergaon recently by the local people.
