Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Dec 8: Nanthoor Circle, where an accident which happened on Thursday December 7 took away the life of a woman and resulted in injuries to several, has been known to be unscientific. Although three national highways, 66, 75 and 169 meet here, the circle does not have a flyover. The circle's dangerousness is evidenced by frequent accidents and loss of lives resulting out of them. As vehicles approach the circle from various directions, it is difficult to keep track of which vehicle takes which turn.

Nanthoor circle has been unscientific and it badly needs flyovers or underpasses. In the original plan, a fly over had been planned to be constructed here but as land acquisition was delayed, this plan was not executed. By the time the land was acquired by the district administration, there was steep cost escalation and therefore Ircon to which the work was contracted, refused to execute the project. Similarly, flyover is also a necessity at KPT circle. Although these issues were repeatedly discussed by the city corporation council and quarterly KDP meetings, there has not been any progress on these issues.

The failure of traffic police to take stringent measures against drivers of private buses who move through city roads in an intimidating way for other road users, and their callousness towards obeying traffic rules, has added to the gravity of the problem. Many feel that if there was a provision to seize the errant vehicles even for minor offencs, the situation would have improved. The fact that a total of 2,758 cases were registered from January 2017 to November against different vehicles signifies that private buses are getting a lenient view from the police for their reckless driving and over speeding. Otherwise the number of cases would have been much more.

The private buses have the habit of driving menacingly close to the vehicles ahead, honking continuously to build mental pressure, and making an effort to overtake vehicles in narrow roads resulting in traffic blocks. They also mouth bad language at the drivers of other vehicles who refuse to give bus drivers the right of way. The private bus drivers have cultivated the habit of repeatedly honking at the vehicles ahead of them even at circles where red signal is on. Moreover, they stop the buses in the middle of the road all of a sudden to pick passengers, creating problems for others.

The police can put CCTV cameras to better use if they detect erratic driving by private buses and fine them instead of concentrating on helmet-less travel by two-wheelers and drivers of four-wheelers failing to fasten seat belts.

President of Dakshina Kannada district Bus Owners Association, Aziz Parthippady, accuses speeding two-wheelers of contributing to increasing number of accidents in highways. He feels that the number of bus accidents is relatively less. He however, said there are plans to provide training to drivers and conductors to reduce accidents.

President of Canara Bus Owners Association, Rajavarma Ballal, says that bus staff are being provided refresher courses twice a year about adhering to traffic rules. Regional transport officer, G S Hegde, says that licences of 61 drivers were suspended during October this year,of which 39 related to drunk driving. Assistant police commissioner (traffic), Manunath Shetty, feels that fines have failed to dampen the spirits of traffic offenders.He said that discussions will be held with national highway authorities and engineers about Nanthoor Junction problems towards finding a practicable solution.