Six tourists injured in road accident in J&K’s Sonamarg

Srinagar, Oct 28 Six were injured in a road accident in the Sonamarg hill station of Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Tuesday, officials said.

The tourists were injured in a collision between two vehicles on the Srinagar-Leh national highway near the hill station in Ganderbal.

“The accident occurred when two minibuses collided with each other, causing injuries to six occupants, including the driver of a minibus. The injured were initially shifted to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) Sonamarg for immediate medical aid, where attending doctors referred two of them for specialised treatment to super-specialty SKIMS hospital in Srinagar," an official said.

Those injured have been identified as Pawan 20, son of Chuni Lal; Dhruv 22, son of Samsar Chand; Vishaka 34, wife of Prasad; Ashish 17, son of Chuni Lal; driver Chamail Singh, son of N.K and Ujwal, daughter of Narinder Kumar, all residents of Udhampur, Jammu, the official said, adding that police has registered a case in this incident.

Rash and negligent driving, road rage, overloading and overspeeding are the major causes of road accidents in the hilly areas of J&K.

The Traffic Department has deployed special squads to check these, and stringent punishment is given to offenders.

In their widely publicised warnings, the regional transport officers (RTOs) have said that cancellation of driving licences and registration certificates is the penalty for repeat offenders of traffic rules.

If a vehicle is driven by a minor, the parents can be imprisoned in addition to the cancellation of registration certificates of such vehicles.

In their directives, the Traffic Department has advised refilling stations not to sell petrol to motorcycle/scooter drivers without helmets.

The hilly districts of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban and Reasi are often in the news for fatal road accidents resulting in the loss of precious lives of travellers.

The common citizens are blaming the authorities for being lenient to offenders of traffic rules, as violations of traffic rules have been very common in J&K during the last 20 years.

Stunts performed on roads by bikers is another menace that the Traffic Department officials are facing in J&K

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