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11 injured in road accident in Karnataka’s Vijayanagara district: Police
“The KSRTC bus was coming from Bengaluru when it was hit by the lorry and collapsed in front of the transport bus. 11 people on the bus were injured, and one is in critical condition. Four of the injured have been rushed to a speciality hospital in Ballari. A case has been registered at Kanahosalli police station for negligent driving against both drivers,” said a senior police officer.
11 people were injured after a state government-run passenger bus collided with a lorry in Karnataka’s Vijayanagara district on Wednesday morning, the fifth major accident in the state this year, police said.
According to the officials, the accident took place in the morning on National Highway 50 near Amalapur in Koodligi taluk. The officials added that one of the injured persons is in critical condition.
“The KSRTC bus was coming from Bengaluru when it was hit by the lorry and collapsed in front of the transport bus. 11 people on the bus were injured, and one is in critical condition. Four of the injured have been rushed to a speciality hospital in Ballari. A case has been registered at Kanahosalli police station for negligent driving against both drivers,” said a senior police officer.
This is the fifth accident reported in Karnataka this year, and 26 people have lost their lives so far, according to police data. The previous accident was reported in the Kalburgi district on June 3, where seven people died. In the accident reported on May 22in Dharwad, eight were killed. Before the Dharwad accident, a multi-utility vehicle rammed into a tree near the Hubballi-Dharwad region, killing at least eight people and seriously injuring 13 others on May 21. Four people died, and over 25 others were injured after an overloaded bus overturned in Pavagada in Tumkuru district on March 22.
These accidents, including the accident in Vijayanagara, point toward bad designs of highways in the city, said experts.
Ashwin Mahesh, a city planner and civic expert, said while drivers are blamed for the accident, a closer look at the issue will reveal larger systemic issues. “If you look at the state’s highways, you will always find overloaded vehicles. Whenever there is a set of vehicles that are not able to keep up with the speeds on the highway, there are chances of people overtaking out of frustration. It is no secret that overloaded, slow-moving vehicles are causing the accident, and we have seen this in recent cases well. There is no punishment for that in India,” he said.
He said the problem doesn’t stop there. The responsibility of checking overloaded, slow vehicles is of the transport and police departments.
“Checking these vehicles and fining them at the toll booths is the concerned department’s responsibility. We know how often that happens. The corruption has made this enforcement ineffective,” Mahesh said.
Another set of problems is the lack of planning in the highway design. “To start with, our highways are designed without enough space between the hard median and the road. In other countries, shoulder space is left on either side of that road so that even if the driver loses control, there is enough space to manoeuvre before he hits the median or goes off the road. We don’t have these designs. In fact, we have arterial roads in the name of highway in many parts,” he added.
An official of the transport department said the department which is overwhelmed with the major responsibilities such as vehicle registration and making policy designs etc is unable to work on road safety.
“Earlier, an IPS officer was in charge of the road safety in the state. Road redesigns, spreading awareness and all other aspects of road safety were handled by him. Now, it has been merged with us and it is an additional responsibility,” said the officer who didn’t want to be named.
