Ramban: Travelling on 270-kms Jammu-Srinagar National Highway has turned into a nightmare for the commuters due to the dilapidated Udhampur-Banihal stretch and traffic authorities’ apathetic attitude towards rash and negligent driving.
“The condition of the stretch beyond Udhampur up to Banihal is deplorable; the 36 km Ramban-Banihal track has virtually turned into a death trap. It witnesses tragic road accidents at regular intervals claiming innocent lives,” complain regular commuters from Ramban town.
Locals complain that sinking patches and huge landslides at regular intervals have made Jammu-Srinagar National Highway very unsafe to travel.
“The condition of the highway has gone from bad to worse in the past couple of years in the absence of effective maintenance. The ongoing widening and up-gradation work on the highway has added to the woes of travellers in general and the regular commuters in particular,” they added.
“There are no crash barriers at vulnerable places on the highway. The unscientific methods and ways have been adopted in earth cutting for widening the highway. Besides, the poor traffic management in clearing choking points, checking drunk, negligent rash driving including poor maintenance of passenger vehicles has worsened the situation,” the locals complain.
Though officials deny yet the locals allege that the authorities’ apathetic attitude towards the violation of traffic rules by the drivers of passenger vehicles, negligent driving, which were the main causes of frequent road accidents, was responsible for rise in such tragedies.