Zirakpur: Day after girl dies in accident, NGO lodges complaint against NHAI, contractor

Gaurav Kanthwal

Zirakpur, May 8

A day after 12-year-old Ananya, a Class VII student of a private school, was crushed under the wheels of a truck, work to lay bitumen mixture on the bald patch on the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway near the Singhpura chowk is yet to be started.

Iron bars protruding from the road drainage continue to pose danger to road users. Worse, no lighting arrangement has been made at the spot ever since the construction of the vehicular underpass (VUP) started two years ago.

A large number of children commute to their respective schools on two-wheelers through this dangerous stretch on national highway.

Zirakpur residents expressed their anguish through social media posts a day after the tragedy struck a family of Preet Colony. Residents’ Welfare Associations are aghast at the callous attitude of the NHAI in constructing a proper service lane at the VUP construction site.

The bald and uneven patch, where the accident occurred yesterday, witnesses mishaps daily. The poor condition of the road can be gauged from the fact that a tractor’s axle broke down in the middle of the road. ArriveSAFE, an NGO which takes up road safety issues, today lodged a complaint with the Mohali SSP’s office, seeking an FIR against the NHAI and the contractor concerned.

“The NHAI officials and the contractor responsible for the maintenance of the road should be booked under Section 198-A of the Motor Vehicle Act. Further, a survey should be conducted to ensure the construction zone is as per code IRC:SP:55-2014, guidelines on traffic management in work zones mandated by the Indian Road Congress, so that no such incident takes place in future,” stated the police complaint filed by Harman Singh Sidhu, president of ArriveSAFE.

A resident of Maya Garden, Jagbir Singh, said, “Look at the condition of the service lane. Such mishaps on this stretch will continue to take place till safety hazards are removed. It is high time the NHAI and the administration shed this apathy.”

Meanwhile, Dera Bassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa met personnel of the Sadak Surakhya Force and enquired about their working. “The Zirakpur-Ambala road is a killer stretch. The SSF personnel have saved 200 lives on this stretch in just three months,” he said. Talking to mediapersons, Randhawa claimed that there had been a 50 per cent increase in accidents in Dera Bassi area as the traffic had increased on this road due to the diversions made in view of the blockade by the Haryana Government at the Shambhu barrier.

MLA cites Shambhu barrier blockade

Dera Bassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa claimed that there had been 50 per cent increase in accidents in Dera Bassi area as the traffic had grown manifold on this road due to the diversions made in view of the blockade by the Haryana Government at the Shambhu barrier.

Wake-up call for NHAI

Look at the condition of the service lane. Such mishaps on this stretch will continue to take place till safety hazards are removed. It is high time the NHAI and the administration shed this apathy. — Jagbir Singh, resident