DHARMAPURI: The number of accidents on Thoppur Ghat road has reduced by 60% in comparison with the accidents in 2019, according to an RTO study.Regional Transport Officer Dhamodaran told TNIE, “For the past 18 months, the RTO, police and the Dharmapuri administration have been studying the road and making several modifications to the national highway connecting Palayampudur and Omalur. The 6-km road has been marked as a black spot by the NHAI due to the large number of accidents that take place in the stretch. Our efforts have paid off and accidents have reduced by 60%.”
“While a total of 57 accidents took place on the road in 2019, in which 57 people were injured and 23 people died, 50 accidents took place in 2022, in which 92 people were injured and nine deaths were recorded,” he said, adding that data from 2020 and 2021 cannot be considered for reference because of the pandemic-induced lockdown, which had restricted vehicle movements.
A toll plaza official stated, “We have placed over 10,000 solar studs to mark the roads and have also placed over 1,500 metres of reflective stickers, alerting the vehicles of the terrain. Blinkers have also been placed. Apart from this, trucks are now forced to stop in certain areas and we are also checking the vacuum level of brakes. Brake failure is one of the most common causes of accidents here.”
Data from the RTO office has also shown that a large number of accidents are due to overspeeding. A total of 7,720 speeding cases have been booked in the past 18 months and a total penalty of over `47 lakh has been issued and `13 lakh has been collected.
Further Thoppur polcie said that 750 cases have been filed by them individually to prevent trucks from speeding on the ghat road. As per sources in the district administration, the NHAI has sent a proposal to the Centre seeking construction of an over-bridge along the forest area. “Under this proposal, the hairpin bends near Kattamedu and twin bridges will be straightened to avert accidents,” they said.