Foggy conditions lead to two road accidents in Amritsar

Foggy conditions on Friday led to two road accidents in the city which highlighted the negligence of the authorities concerned. Though no loss of life was reported, three vehicles were badly damaged in the mishaps.

In the first case, a truck overturned on a car at the Gumtala bypass. The car was badly damaged and all occupants had a narrow escape as the truck crushed the car soon after they left the vehicle. The truck driver claimed that he was unaware of the diversion created by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) due to construction of an overbridge at the Gumtala bypass. As per the rules, the NHAI should install solar blinkers for road safety. Leave alone making special arrangements, no ordinary lights have been provided at the stretch to prevent road accidents.

Despite the instructions from the district administration, the NHAI did not install the solar blinkers at the road construction sites in Vallah and the Gumtala bypass. In February 2023, an NHAI contractor was booked for not installing the blinker or any caution sign at the Manawala construction site, leaving a youth seriously injured.

In another accident, a truck collided with the central divider of the Metro station at a BRTS overbridge on the Batala road. The sudden start of the Metro station in the BRTS corridor is a death trap for the first-time visitors, who are not aware of its design. Commuters from other cities and states are mostly victims of the BRTS black spot. Generally people are not aware of the BRTS lanes and corridors constructed in the middle of the roads. People from other cities and states, who travel late at night or in the morning, mostly meet with accidents here.

“In the absence of reflectors or warning signs, commuters often hit the BRTS lane divider. The MC should install solar blinkers on every such spot where BRTS lane starts,” said Kuwar Parmavir Singh, a local resident.