Daijiworld Media Network - Puttur (SP)

Puttur, Oct 21: A bullet tanker carrying gas from Mangaluru to Bengaluru fell by the roadside drain at Enjira-Nelyadka on Shiradi Ghat stretch of national highway 75 on Tuesday October 20 afternoon. It is said that the driver lost control over the vehicle when driving through Nelyadka road bend.

The driver escaped from the scene, perhaps after noticing that the tanker suffered a minor gas leakage. Some locals claimed that he appeared to have been drunk. After information was transmitted the quick response vehicle stationed at Nelyady reached the spot within a short time, and its staff succeeded in plugging the leakage, thus averting a possible tragedy. Traffic was affected at the spot, and Uppinangady police and fire brigade personnel from here, who reached there sometime later, supervised the situation.

The people expressing resentment at the fact that reckless driving and failure to adhere with the stipulation have been causing accidents which can turn into catastrophes, insisted that failure to adhere to the stipulation about the presence of two drivers and a cleaner in gas tankers has been giving rise to these accidents. They said that the policemen, who subject sand trucks and other vehicles to checking here and there, should also inspect whether the gas tankers are adhering to norms, as drivers, in a bid to do more trips, reportedly throw caution to winds.

After the accident, policemen diverted vehicles coming from the direction of Uppinangady via Suibrrahmanya. As huge containers carrying cars entered this road, traffic jam was experienced for sometime, as a result of which long queue of vehicles was formed on this road.