JEYPORE: Frequent road accidents along a 10-km stretch of the National Highway-26 have raised serious concerns among commuters and local residents.
At least four major accidents have been reported on the Visakhapatnam-Raipur corridor passing through Jeypore Sadar police station and Ambaguda in the past two months. The mishaps claimed four lives, left three others critically injured and locals angry. In two instances, the residents resorted to road blockades in Umuri village.
Commuters allege that absence of speed breakers has made the NH stretch particularly dangerous with high-speed vehicles passing through the area. “There is no mechanism to regulate speed as vehicles hit top speed, putting lives at risk,” said Rajesh Madala, a resident of Ambaguda.
Locals and commuters have been demanding installation of speed breakers or other physical barriers to curb overspeeding. However, their appeals have reportedly yielded no response.
Officials from the Jeypore division of the National Highways authority, however, maintained that there is no provision for speed-breakers on national highways. “As per norms, we cannot construct speed breakers on NH stretches. We can only install signboards and provide road markings at accident-prone zones,” said Gourang Majhi, executive engineer of the Jeypore NH division.
He added that adequate signage and warning indicators are already in place along the NH-26 stretch between Jeypore and Ambaguda.