Beyond the deaths in armed conflicts between the militants and the government forces that dominate newspaper headlines are the deaths of people caused in road accidents and more so on Srinagar-Jammu highway during the chilly months of the winter season. Even the official figures indicate that the number of people killed in road accidents in the state is twice the number of the people killed in militancy related incidents. Official figures confirming the deaths of 908 people in 5,529 road accidents across the state from January till November and injuries to more 7,250 during the same period are sufficient enough for the government to wake up from deep slumber to control the intensity of road accident deaths across the state and more so on Srinagar-Jammu highway prone to stone pelting and landslides in the harshest winter months of December , January and February. Roughly the official figures confirm that over ten thousand people have died during last one decade in road accidents in the state and interestingly the highest number of causalities were reported in the year 2012 at 1165 and over eighty thousand were injured that year. Alarmed by the growing incidents of road accidents and the unprecedented rise in fatality rates, the previous Mehbooba led PDP-BJP coalition government though introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Road Safety Council Act, 2018 in the assembly for the the formation of a State Road Safety Council but the exercise was reduced to paper work only as the council proposed in the bill
was to be made responsible for road safety across the state with the powers to give advice to the state government on transport safety measures was not constituted.
Not only road safety measures but upgradation of the trauma centers and availability of critical ambulances to required to reduce the chances of deaths and disabilities on Srinagar-Jammu highway which has almost become a killer highway.
The council headed by the then Transport Minister was also supposed to be involved in charting safety policies, enforce road safety standards and conduct awareness programs. Barring road safety measures a gaping hole in the availability of health care facilities in the state aggravates the situations arising in the aftermath of the road accidents particularly on Srinagar-Jammu highway. Since the government has done very little to upgrade the infrastructure at the hospitals located on Srinagar-Jammu highway,the possibilities of reducing deaths and disabilities caused by accidents has become almost impossible for the doctors in government run hospitals on Srinagar-Jammu highway. Though the government announced the establishment of 17 trauma centers along the highways in the year 2012 to provide immediate intervention in case of road accidents but allegations are galore that these trauma centers are poorly equipped and most of them are yet to be made functional. Shockingly complaints about the huge dearth of critical care ambulances in the hospitals on Srinagar-Jammu highway are more rampant than the dismal working of the trauma centers on this highway. So not only road safety measures but upgradation of the trauma centers and availability of critical ambulances to required to reduce the chances of deaths and disabilities on Srinagar-Jammu highway which has almost become a killer highway.
