Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Everyone expects Highway Police to perform well and ensure safe and smooth flow of traffic on highways and provide timely medical aid to injured persons in accidents. However, not many know that State Government itself wants Highway Police to patrol for shorter distances. In fact, State Government provides only 8 litres diesel per day to every traffic aid centre of Highway Police for patrolling though these centres are expected to patrol an area of over 500 kms. In addition to this, Highway Police are not equipped with Ambulance and cranes.
State Highway Police has Thane, Pune, and Nagpur regions with 62 traffic aid posts (TAP). State has 15 National and 291 State Highways with length of 70,747 kms. Every traffic aid centre has duty to reduce and prevent accidents, save life, help injured persons, and also ensure smooth flow of traffic by constant vigil. But, the fact is that Highway Police are unable to cover all accident-prone spots during patrolling.
The Government has given strict ultimatum to all centres not to use diesel more than that prescribed in the norms. Cars of Highway Police are in bad shape and it is very difficult for the cops to keep watch on illicit transport. Another major problem for Highway Police is unavailability of Ambulance and cranes in case of accidents. When patrolling party of Highway Police reaches the accident spot, they have no cranes to start rescue operation or Ambulance to offeer medical care to injured persons. Waiting for private Ambulance or cranes, unfortunately, increases number of fatalities in road accidents.
S K Mishra, Director (Road Transport), Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highway submitted a report ‘Road Safety in India’ to Union Government in 2004. In the report, he asked the Government to provide Ambulance to Highway Police. However, even after eight years since submission of the report, the State has not yet received Ambulance for Highway Police from the Union Government. According to sources, unavailability of Ambulance increases the risk of injured persons losing life.
Suresh Gadekar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), Nagpur Division of Highway Police, told ‘The Hitavada’ that Highway Police were unable to keep watch on all sections under their jurisdiction. He confirmed that Highway Police had taken decision to write to State Government seeking Ambulance to save precious lives on highways.
2,522 casualties in road mishaps in Vidarbha in two years
Vidarbha region alone has seen 2,522 casualties in road mishaps on highways in past two years. These many lives were lost in 5,266 mishaps. Apart from casualties, 9,600 persons sustained serious injuries in past two years. As per the Government’s declaration, every year, 12,000 persons are killed and 50,000 injured seriously in 75,000 accidents that occur on highways in Maharashtra.
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