Bemina-Mirgund deadly stretch

Absence of speed breakers reason for frequent accidents

S.A. SAFVI

SRINAGAR, Apr 2: The Sebden road mishap in which the mother-daughter duo from Chana Mohalla Chattabal was crushed to death by a recklessly driven tipper on a fateful evening of March 28, 2010 has evoked an outpouring of grief and condemnation from the netizens.

Some termed it simply “heartbreaking”, while some hold the district administration responsible for the mishap. Bemina-Budgam road has become a dangerous road to travel on given the fact that over 1000 tippers ply on the road round the clock.

“This is the high time that district administration gets its act together and finds way out of this bloody logjam. This game has been going on for many years now. These killer tippers have mushroomed in last few years and ply on the narrow roads in breakneck speed,” writes Zafar Mehdi on Facebook. “These killer tippers must be made accountable for the murders, and a strong signal must be put across to everyone.”

Reasons For Frequent Accidents

There is more than one reason responsible for the frequent accidents on Bemina-Mirgund road. Narrow road, absence of speed breakers at strategic places and absence of cops to direct the traffic are some of the major reasons responsible for frequent mishaps.

“The mishaps are not strange given the fact that the road is narrow, moving speed is high, and padesterian walkway is absent,” Zafar writes.

“If the cause is identified, remedial measures must be taken at the earliest. There is already so much misery and tragedy happening out there (in Kashmir). Tragedies that can be avoided with some thoughtfulness must not be allowed to happen,” writes another netizen, Zohra Javed.

Missing Speed Breakers

Since Bemina-Mirgund road is considered accident-prone, the need for constructing speed breakers becomes more vital to prevent accidents. Moreover, the Mirgund-Bemina stretch has many schools and residential houses on roadside.

Stating that the removal of speed breakers in the area was carried out without taking into confidence the local populace, the residents of Bemina, Sepden, Mirgund have placed a demand for speed breakers near schools, and blind curves on Bemina-Mirgund road.

“The speed breaker is like a ‘safety breaker’ for both drivers and people in general. The main cause of accidents is speed and it is good to create speed breakers in order to alert the driver and force him to slow down,” believes Amir Ali, a resident of Bemina. “Without fail, the Bemina-Mirgund road should have speed breakers to prevent accidents,”

“Given the increasing number of vehicles on road and the speed applied to them by their drivers, speed breakers have become very necessary. On priority, the authorities should ensure that speed breakers are built in all high risk areas which are crowded,” opines Syed Shafaat, a student of University of Kashmir (KU).

Ex-Engineer R&B peaks

Talking to Kashmir Times, Executive Engineer R&B Budgam said that he had met district development commissioner Budgam and Tehsildar Budgam and apprised them about the demand.

“We have received a nod from DC Budgam vis-à-vis construction of speed breakers on Mirgund-Bemina road,” he said, adding that the work on the construction of speed breakers will be started within a week.