HC asks Raj govt to take immediate steps to prevent road accidents

Expressing serious concerns and anguish over rising casualties in road accidents, the Rajasthan High Court has asked the Centre and the state government to take immediate steps to prevent such tragic deaths.

Hearing a petition filed by lawyer Rajendra Sharma, a division bench of the court comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu on Thursday also passed an interim order directing the authorities to close entry in shops on both sides of the highways and to remove encroachments from service lanes.

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Chief Justice Sharma observed that while traveling to Jodhpur (to hold a hearing in the principal bench of the court),”even we have experienced that the security norms and road safety protocols were not being abided by, on the highways”.

The Court asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to ensure regular highway patrolling by teams of traffic police”.

The bench asked the government to submit the Road Safety Action Plan along with an affidavit on the next date of hearing in the case. The government is also required to submit an “action-taken-report” on court’s order, before the bench on the next hearing that is scheduled for November 14 next week.

A division bench of the court headed by Justice Dr Pushpendra Singh Bhati also took cognizance in the matter on Tuesday and sought a report from the government on plans and measures taken or being taken by the officials to prevent the tragic incidents.

The Court also appointed amicus curiae for making suggestions for curbing accidents and casualties.

The rising trend in the road accidents seems to be a Pan India issue, however, a number of tragic mishaps with high casualties in recent weeks in Rajasthan have attracted attention of the entire country.

These tragic deaths also made the high court take suo moto cognizance.

Notable among these, a massive fire in a Jodhpur bound AC sleeper coach took place on October 14 on the outskirts of Jaisalmer that took the toll of 28 lives. Several injured.

On Sunday last, 16 persons, including 10 women and 4 children, were killed in a massive collision between a Tempo Traveler and a stationary truck near Matoda on the Bharatmala Road in Phalodi district.

On the next day, November 2, as many as 14 persons were killed and around 10 injured when an uncontrolled dumper ploughed through pedestrians and two-wheelers, hitting on the way many other vehicles in Harmada area of Jaipur.

Another report said that more than 100 people have died in road accidents in the state in almost a month.