Stopover for juice on National Highway a risky affair, Kurukshetra cops crack down on vendors

Tribune News Service

Nitish Sharma

Kurukshetra, April 26

The presence of juice sellers and other vendors along the Delhi-Ambala National Highway-44 and other highways has become a cause for concern for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as well as the local police.

The authorities say these vends pose a risk to the safety of commuters as a number of vehicles can be spotted parked around these unauthorised carts on the NH-44.

On Thursday, an autorickshaw rammed into a car parked near a juice vend on the highway near Khanpur Jattan village in Shahabad.

Bitter aftertaste for commuter

An autorickshaw rammed into a car parked near a juice vend and overturned on the NH near Khanpur Jattan village in Shahabad on Thursday. The auto driver sustained injuries in the incident. Ajay, the car owner, said he was on his way from Ambala to Karnal with his family when he stopped along the highway to enjoy sugarcane juice at the vend, but was left bitter due to the damage to his car.

Vends tend to create blind spots

Sometimes, while overtaking, drivers fail to spot vehicles parked near these vends, which leads to accidents. Roshan Lal, Traffic police coordinator

Ajay, the car owner, said he was on his way from Ambala to Karnal with his family when he stopped his car along the highway to have sugarcane juice from a vend.

He said an autorickshaw plying on the stretch hit his parked car on the rear and overturned. The auto driver sustained injuries in the accident and both vehicles suffered damages.

An NHAI official said, “Vending is not allowed on the national highway. The route patrolling teams of the NHAI, in joint operations with the local police, keep removing these vendors from the highways. As a majority of the vendors use carts attached with two-wheelers, they change their locations and keep coming back. Complaints have also been given at the respective police stations calling for appropriate action against illegal vending on the highway. Signboards have been installed to make people aware of the illegal vending and constant efforts are being made to make commuting safer on the highways.”

Meanwhile, the Kurukshetra police today removed several vendors from the Kurukshetra-Ambala National Highway.

Traffic police coordinator Roshan Lal said, “Following the directions of the Superintendent of Police (SP), a special drive is being run against illegal vendors on the national highway. Sometimes while overtaking, drivers fail to spot vehicles parked near these vends, which leads to accidents. Vendors have been told not to set up their carts along the highway.”

Kurukshetra SP Surinder Singh Bhoria said, “Any kind of vending on the national highway is not allowed and a special drive is being carried out to remove vendors who park their vehicles along the highway and sell juice and other items. They should sell their products at designated locations only.”

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