Expressing its anger over the casual approach being adopted by the authorities concerned to check deaths on roads of the Chenab and Pir-Panchal regions of the Jammu division, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court directed the expert panel to visit all vulnerable sites immediately.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice M A Chowdhary issued these directions in response to the bunch of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by some social groups.
The PILs were filed to highlight the "death dance" on the roads, particularly on the Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban National Highway and Mughal Road in Jammu province.
These clubbed PILs titled Intakhab Ahmed Qazi Vs UT of J&K and Ors, Bar Association Doda Vs UT of J&K, and a letter turned PIL by a social activist Asif Iqbal Bhat came up for hearing before the Court.
Petitioners sought to draw the attention of the Court toward directions passed in December 2023 to constitute an expert committee and to identify vulnerable spots.
The Bench pointed out that the expert committee was supposed to submit recommendations before the court by 2nd week of February 2024.
The Court directed the expert committee to visit the sites for which the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu shall take necessary steps and submit a report without fail by the next date of hearing-22.04.2024.
HC earlier directed govt to form an expert committee
On December 7, 2023, the Division Bench of the J&K High Court issued a directive to the Union Territory administration, emphasizing the urgency of forming an expert committee to investigate the escalating frequency of road accidents in the Chenab region and the Pir-Panchal range.
Expressing grave concern over the recurring incidents of road accidents in these areas, the J&K and Ladakh High Court, led by Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, directed the government to take decisive actions to mitigate the loss of lives on the roads.
The expert committee, as outlined by the Court, is to comprise a Professor from IIT Jammu specializing in road safety, an engineer nominated by the Chief Engineer SAMPARK, another engineer nominated by the Chief Engineer PWD(R&B), Jammu, and Prof. (Dr.) G.M. Bhat, a distinguished expert in landslides on national highways and former Head of the Department of Geology at the University of Jammu.
Furthermore, the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, designated as the Nodal Officer in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), was asked to oversee the coordination of the Expert Committee's activities.
The Committee was tasked with conducting thorough inspections of critical areas such as Mughal Road, the Batote-Doda-Kishtwar stretch, and the Ramban area of highways.
Another three-member-panel already submitted its report
Notably, following the devastating accident in the Assar area of Doda on November 15, 2022, a three-member panel commissioned by the J&K Government has already submitted its findings.
Comprised of the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Ravi Kumar Bharti, Superintending Engineer PWD Rampaul Gupta, and Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) Doda, the panel's report suggested for proactive measures to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies in the Chenab region, encompassing Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban districts.
The mounting toll of accidents in the mountainous terrain of Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban districts of Jammu and Kashmir has transformed the region's roads into perilous passages.
With statistics from the Union Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways revealing Jammu and Kashmir's ranking second in the nation for road accidents per 10,000 vehicles, averaging over 900 fatalities annually in the past five years, urgent and decisive action is imperative to stem this tide of tragedy.
