BHUBANESWAR: The mind-numbing death of electrical engineer Sumanta Das in the tragic road mishap at Palasuni Square of the City has failed to wake up enforcement agencies from their deep slumber and tokenism. Heavy vehicles, mostly cargo-laden ones, continue to violate rules on the national highway passing through the City but without arresting attention of either Traffic Wing of Commissionerate Police or Transport Department squads.
A simple drive along the NH stretch would show most of these vehicles do not stick to the left-most lane. Trying driving in the night and it would be amply clear how these vehicles flout rules with impunity. Apart from racing with each other and overtaking from all sides, the drivers pose serious threat to co-commuters. That there is very little vigilance does not help.
With the NH running through a very busy stretch of the City and further towards Cuttack, the whole stretch turns into a nightmare during the peak evening hours for the two-wheelers, cars and other smaller vehicles. And mishaps lurk around.
Though Commissionerate Police had finalised a stretch between Palasuni and Gopalpur on National Highway 16 for lane driving, the experiment could not be implemented. Sources said implementation of the rule has been delayed as construction and repair activities are underway at several stretches which is yet to be made six-lane completely.
“The plan to implement lane driving could not be implemented due to encroachments in many areas like Pahal. Besides, six-lane work is yet to be completed from Cuttack to Chandikhol. Government is not keen to implement lane driving rule in a small stretch in the Twin City,” said an official.
Lane driving for heavy vehicles was first made mandatory by Commissionerate Police during early days of Urban Policing when DG-ranked officer Bijay Sharma was Police Commissioner. In 2016, the then Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner YB Khurania had launched ‘Keep it Left’ campaign to create awareness among heavy vehicle drivers. However, the campaign did not continue for long.
In recent times when Commissionerate Police planned to re-enforce lane driving, truck owners reportedly demanded a government notification to ensure this discipline on the roads.As government has not issued any notification, heavy vehicle drivers have a scant regard for the law and can be seen freely driving across all lanes on the stretch between Jatni and Jagatpur which is about 39.8 km. Trucks, dumpers, and buses are seen not sticking to the left-most carriageway resulting in accidents and traffic congestion as well.
The left most lanes are reserved for the heaviest and slowest moving vehicles, the middle lanes for movement of light vehicles, while the right most lane is used for speeding vehicles and for overtaking.“We are planning to start enforcement after receiving approval from the government. However, we cannot fine drivers for lane violations as the government is yet to notify the rule,” said a senior official of Department of Commerce and Transport.
Odisha recorded an increase in fatalities in road mishaps by about 7.24 per cent during 2021 as compared to 2020. Last year, a total of 10,984 road accident cases were reported in which 5,081 people died and 9,782 were injured.