94 lives lost in road mishaps in Panipat district this year

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, May 14

As many as 94 persons have died and 106 sustained injuries in 182 accidents on the highways in Panipat district this year so far.

In 2022, 536 accident cases were registered, in which 275 persons lost their lives and 387 sustained injuries, while 310 died and 354 sustained injuries in 561 mishap cases recorded by police in 2021.

As per information, 182 accidents have been reported till May 12 this year, of which 94 were fatal ones, 46 persons sustained grievous injuries and 36 got minor injuries. The district traffic police have identified six accident-prone spots on the NH-44. As many as 21 persons had lost their lives in the accidents near these spots in the past four months, while 12 persons sustained grievous injuries in the accidents.

These spots are near the Malik petrol pump on the NH-44, near toll plaza, Skylark to Sanjay chowk on the NH-44, Sant Nirankari bhawan to Bharat petroleum station, Mannat Dhaba to new bus stand and new bus stand to Park hospital on the NH-44.

“Over-speeding, drunken driving, non-marking on national highways and the use of mobile phones are the major reasons behind the accidents,” said Sandeep Kumar, DSP Traffic, Panipat.

There should be a specific marking on the national highways and railing on the NH-44 was also broken at several places, he said.

Panipat is an industrial town and thousands of labourers cross the NH-44 daily after jumping over the railings, which was also a major cause of pedestrian deaths, the DSP added. We had written to the NHAI several times to increase the height of railings at several points and for markings at specific points, but the NHAI was not paying attention to it, the DSP Traffic maintained.