Three deaths in seven days on Nabha’s Circular Road spark outrage

Members of a civil society group have also composed a song mourning those who lost their lives in recent accidents. The lyrics lament that the deaths could have been avoided and blame politicians and bureaucrats for their indifference. The group has called on residents to unite in grief and demand accountability.

A nine-year-old boy, a 19-year-old youth and a 30-year-old man were killed in three separate accidents last week. Several others have been injured recently. Earlier this week, ward no. 8 Councillor Ashok Kumar Garg was hurt in an accident on the same road. He blamed heavy encroachments for the rising number of crashes.

Dhir Singh, president of the Shiva Enclave Association, said, “Residents have been raising the issue for over two years. Even 300 locals signed an appeal and submitted it to the Nabha SDM in December last year, but nothing has changed.”

Advocate Reetiqbal Singh added, “The road has several intersections but not a single traffic light, speed breaker, or traffic police deployment. Encroachments on both sides leave no room to manoeuvre if someone needs to avoid a rash driver.”

He said the candle march would begin from Shahi Samadhan and end at the spot where nine-year-old Nehan was killed last week.

In the past three days, three more accidents have been reported on the stretch, though none proved fatal.

Meanwhile, Patiala SP (Traffic) Narinder Singh said he had ordered a survey of the road. Nabha SDM Ismat Vijay said the PWD Executive Engineer had been directed to identify infrastructure gaps contributing to the accidents.