Over 500 killed in 3 yrs on Panipat-Jalandhar NH

Parveen Arora

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Tribune News Service

Karnal, February 11

With an average of more than four accidents every day and a death every second day, the 291-km Panipat-Jalandhar National Highway is proving to be a death trap for commuters.

The National Highway is 291-km long — 116 km in Haryana and 175 km in Punjab.

In all, 4,817 accidents took place on the NH in the two states from 2015 to 2017, resulting in 533 deaths. In all, 2,229 were seriously injured, while 4,543 sustained minor injuries.

An RTI query by advocate Rajesh Sharma has brought this out. He had sought information from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

In three years, 2,486 accidents took place in Haryana. In all, 284 persons died, while 1,370 sustained serious injuries and 2,233 minor injuries. In Punjab, 2,331 accidents took place in three, resulting in 249 deaths. The number of seriously injured were 859 and those with and minor injuries were 2,310.

Rs 2,700-cr toll collected, but NH in dire straits

In the reply, the NHAI said all the three toll plazas on the NH — Karnal, Sambhu and Ladowal — have collected about Rs2,700 crore so far since its inception in 2009.

About Rs1,305 crore has been collected at the Karnal toll plaza, Rs472 crore at the Sambhu toll plaza and Rs927 crore at the Ladowal toll plaza.

In spite of huge collection, the National Highway is in need of attention. Incomplete work, illegal cuts, missing railings at several places, potholes on service lanes, illegal entry and exit points, and other mechanical defects are posing threat to the lives of commuters.

About the causes behind accidents, the NHAI admitted mechanical flaws were partly responsible for mishaps. Besides, overspeeding, drunken driving, sleeping or dozing, tyre burst, weather conditions, densely populated areas along the NH, cattle menace and wrong side driving are reasons for accidents, it said.