Idle parking, fast bikes: It’s a nightmare on Palampur streets for pedestrians

Ravinder Sood

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Palampur, February 13

To move on foot on the narrow roads of Palampur is nothing short of a nightmare. The rising number of cases of people being hit by overspeeding bikers in the town has become a matter of concern.

In the last three months alone, over 10 pedestrians were hit by the bikers, with most victims rendered bedridden as they recover.

Most recently, a retired government officer was hit by a speeding biker at the busy Subhash Chowk. He suffered multiple fractures and was admitted to Vivekananda Medical Hospital.

Despite the fact that there has been a manifold increase in vehicular traffic in town, the width of most of the roads in Palampur is the same as 30 years ago.

Various governments over the decades haven’t made efforts to widen the roads and streamline the vehicular traffic. The frequent idle parking on town roads has only made matters worse.

Against the national average of 29.30 per cent, road traffic accidents per lakh of population is 31.54 per cent in the state. Similarly, the death rate in road traffic accidents in the state is 13.77 per cent against the national average of 10.93 per cent.

In terms of vehicles, the accident rate per 10,000 vehicles is 17.37 per cent, while at the national level, it is 15.10 per cent.

Vehicles in the state are increasing at the rate of nine percent, meaning that approximately 1.4 lakh vehicles are added to the state every year. The total number of vehicles registered in the state has crossed 20 lakh. Additionally, over 20,000 vehicles enter the state daily during peak tourist seasons.

Kangra records the highest pedestrian deaths in the state, followed by Una and Baddi. This is said to be attributed to over-speeding, rash and negligent driving and drunk driving.

According to DSP Palampur Lokinder Thakur, over 10 traffic constables have been deputed in different parts of town to manage traffic. However, youngsters driving rashly leads to accidents in the district, he added.

He said that the police alone cannot solve this problem, adding that the parents of these youths should cooperate with the police and ensure that their children are not driving in a rash and negligent manner.