The driver was untrained whose MAX fell in a gorge

Fatal accidents in Uttarakhand’s horrible roads have become the order of the day, especially during the heavy rainy monsoon season.

These accidental mishappenings are taking myriad tolls and the basic reason behind them is the untrained drivers who not only risk their own lives but that of other passengers as well.

Out of all accidents that take place 70% fatalities occur due to untrained drivers who come on the steering of the vehicles without assessing the fatal consequences.

Driving on the hill roads without perfect training and experience is a horrible task accompanied by life taking risks but these uneducated and immature drivers devoid of confidence and experience convert their vehicles into killing machines.

This hard fact has been substantiated after detailed investigations in the fatal accident which occurred this morning on Pratap Nagar Khangsali Madan Negi road when early morning at 7.00 AM a Max full of school-going innocent children fell several feet down in a gorge near Madan Negi area in Tehri Garhwal killing 9 students and grievously injured ten out of which 5 are in extremely critical stage.

What is the most shocking part of the entire tragedy is, the driver was completely untrained who didn’t even have a month’s training experience but took the steering of Max from his father who was sitting on the back seat along with school-going children.

Just after covering a distance of 200 meters the untrained immature driver lost the control and his MAX full of 20 school going kids fell in a gorge several feet down badly smashing taking umpteen acrobatics, killing 9 students on the spot with their mutilated bodies recovered later on. 

The children were the students of a local public school in Madan Negi Tehri Garhwal near Pratap Nagar. All the injured, 5 in the extremely critical stage have been airlifted from the local hospital to Rishikesh.

There is tremendous outrage in the area and the government of Uttarakhand finally woke up from its sleep when the transport minister of the state Yadhpal Arya, in order to appease the angry relatives, parents and the populace of Tehri Garhwal immediately suspended the RTO of Pratap Nagar and his subordinates.

There have been such fatal accidents in the recent past as well but the state transport department and the concerned minister are in a protracted sleep.

If one goes into the depth of the statistics of the state regarding fatal accident deaths shocking the number is in hundreds but the state transport authority and its RTOs are least bothered to check the speeding, overcrowded buses being driven by untrained drivers without requisite licenses and other documents.

The roads of Uttarakhand are affected by heavy landslides with boulders falling on the running vehicle every now and then, especially during monsoons.

There are no protective iron boundaries on roadsides, no signboards on blind turns, roads devoid of street lights and drivers driving overcrowded vehicles on challenging mountain roads in inebriated condition risking the lives of passengers. Shame on the negligent, nonfunctional and corrupt transport department of Uttarakhand due to whose ineffectiveness fatal accidents are occurring and innocent people losing their lives for no fault of theirs.