A Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, consisting of Acting Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Rajesh Sekhri, has ordered the government to form a Committee of Experts (CoE) to determine the causes and submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) by or before the next date of hearing. This is in response to the frequent road accidents that occur in the hilly areas of Chenab Valley.
In a letter dated December 17 and addressed to the Chief Justice of the J&K and Ladakh High Court, social activist Asif Iqbal Butt of Kahara in the Doda district asked him to take suo-moto notice of the rising number of road accidents in the hilly Chenab Valley.
The Chief Justice was informed that numerous accidents have claimed hundreds of lives over the years and that scarcely a week goes by without sad accident news, which incites fear among the populace, but that government agencies have failed to take any effective action to stop the disasters.
In a recent ruling Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh comprising Acting Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Rajesh Sekhri directs the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and the Commissioner/Secretary to Govt., PW(R&B) Department, Civil Secretariat, Jammu have been directed to constitute a Committee of experts to determine the reasons for the frequent road accidents on the Batote-Doda-Kishtwar Road. The Committee is also tasked with suggesting measures that will help to make the road accident-free.
The respondents listed in the court order are as follows;
- Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir
Through Commissioner/Secretary to Govt.,
PW(R&B) Department, Civil Secretariat, Jammu. - The Commissioner/Secretary to Govt.,
Transport Department, Civil Secretariat, Jammu. - The Director General of Police, J&K.
- The Inspector General of Police(Traffic), Jammu
- Chief Engineer,
R&B, Jammu - Assistant Regional Transport Officer, Doda
- Assistant Regional Transport Officer, Kishtwar;
- Project Director,
National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation
Limited, Jammu - Chief Engineer (Project) BEACON, C/o 56 APO
- Chief Engineer (Project) SAMPARK, C/o 56 APO
The court has also issued a further direction to respondents 1, 9, and 10 to erect rolling barriers or steel pillars on curved roads, as well as wherever culverts are found on the Batote-Doda-Kishtwar Road. These measures are intended to improve road safety and reduce the number of accidents on the road.
The Director General of Police, Jammu & Kashmir, the Inspector General of Police (Traffic), Jammu, the Chief Engineer of the R&B Department, the Assistant Regional Transport Officers of Doda and Kishtwar, and the Project Director of the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation and other respondents, according to The Chenab Times have also been directed to file an Action Taken Report by the next date of hearing.
This ruling comes in response to a letter which is treated as PIL filed by social activist Asif Iqbal Butt from Kahara area of Doda district seeking action to address the high number of road accidents on the Batote-Doda-Kishtwar Road. The court has recognized the urgent need for action to improve road safety in the Chenab Valley, and has issued these directions in an effort to prevent further accidents and fatalities on this crucial roadway.
Intakhab Ahmed Qazi Versus State of J&K and Others, which raised the issue of road accidents on the Mughal Road, was combined with the letter as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that addressed the same subject.
“Since the roads in the upper reaches are narrow and have a number of blind curves, the installation of rolling barriers is essential for alleviating the severity of the accidents”, the letter said, adding “setting a robust road infrastructure, implementing the recommendations for road safety and ensuring strict compliance with the traffic rules are the need of the hour”. The letter was published firstly on The Chenab Times.
Assisting the Division Bench in the PIL Intakhab Ahmed Qazi Versus State and Others, advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed was also appointed as Amicus Curiae in the new PIL.
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