NH-1, where construction is a never-ending business

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, June 28

Incomplete construction of the National Highway-1, lack of proper road engineering at death points and rash driving have led to steady increase in the number of road accidents in the district.

The gravity of situation can be gauged from the incidence of accidents in past five months. Every day, a person dies in a mishap.

All efforts of the police such as educating people on safe driving and constituting Road Safety Organisation (RSO) to check reckless driving have come to nought.

In all, 570 accidents were reported in 2013, in which 276 persons died, while 480 were injured. In 2014, 282 lost their lives and 428 were injured in 560 accidents.

In the first five months of this year, 149 persons died and 184 were injured in 305 accidents.

Incomplete highway

The work to widen the 291-km stretch of the NH-1 to six lanes has missed another deadline of March 31, set by the Supreme Court. The concessionaire has sought time till November 30 from the apex court to complete the project. Sources said 250-km length of the NH-1 has been widened. 

In all, 176 structures (bridges, passenger underpasses and vehicular underpasses) were to be built on the highway and, of this, nearly 160 are complete.

In Karnal, 16 flyovers were to be built, out of which two major flyovers — the one near the Baldi bypass and the other at Nilokehri — are hanging fire, forcing people to cross the GT road by violating rules.

As per a RTI query, 373 persons were killed on the NH-1 between January 1, 2010, and January 24, 2014.

There are 15 points where road engineering has not been up to the mark, posing a rick of accidents.

Accident-prone points

Most of the accidents take place near Indri bus stand at Naurta village on the Karnal-Indri road near Baldi bypass; Chirao mor; Jarifabad mor near Jabala village; Kachwa mor; near Kohand village; Kaimla mor; Khorakehri road near Gharaunda; Kutana chowk; Ramba mor on the NH-1; near Ramba police post on the Karnal-Indri road; and near Brahman Majra village.

DSP (headquarter) Rajesh Lohan says the police have completed road engineering work at all accident-prone points with the support of government departments. “Reckless and drunken driving are some of the reasons for the accidents,” he says.