Over 200 killed in road mishaps in five years

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, November 29

Over 200 persons have died in road accidents in the Kumaon region in the last five years as the departments concerned have failed to maintain the accident-prone areas.

According to reports received from Almora, over 33 persons have died in the last five years in accidents as the Public Works Department (PWD) has not secured three main sensitive spots in the district. “The main accident prone spots are Bujan on the Khairana-Ranikhet road, Kalidhar near Chitai on the Almora-Pithoragarh road and Jamrari in the Bhaisiayachana block. Over 50 persons have been killed in accidents in these three places in the last five years,” says Digvijay Singh Bisht, a journalist in Almora.

Pithoragarh has witnessed over 91 deaths in accidents in the last five years. “Though the sensitive spots cannot be counted in the district. we have identified three main accident prone points. These are the Kakkar bend on the Munsiyari-Pithoragarh highway, Girgaon on the Thal Munsiyari road and the Berinag-Devinagar-Raiagar road where most of the fatal accidents have occurred in the last five years,” says Navin Joshi, a PWD engineer. The Pithoragarh to Tanakpur highwway from Ghat to Gurna is highly sensitive and accident prone. “We have erected a metal wall along the road to save people from accidents,” adds Joshi.

In Bageshwar district, over 30 persons have been killed in accidents during the last five years. Most of the accidents took place on non-metalled or kuccha roads in villages. “We have identified Kaphaligair as the highly sensitive accident point as many fatal accidents have occurred here. Besides, the Song road in Kapkot subdivision and the Chaura-Dungri and Puari bends are other accident sensitive spots,” says a PWD engineer in the Bageshwar division.

Champawat district has among the worst accident-prone areas in the region. PWD sources say over 33 people have been killed in 49 accidents in the last five years on village or kuccha roads. “Ten persons have died in accidents on the Chalthi-Amori-Amru bend on the Champawat-Tanakpur highway in the last five years. The Ghat-Bapru and Regru Dyartoli bends have also been identified as accidents prone,” they say.