Balasore: The National Highway 16 is an arterial NH that connects the East with the South. Call it apathy or over-attention, several stretches of this major trade route originating from Dankuni in West Bengal till Chennai, through Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, are death traps.
Fatal accidents on this highway are commonplace, and the authorities seem to do little to bring an end to these mishaps. On Saturday night two youths lost their lives after ramming into a truck near Soro, about 60 km (towards Bhubaneswar), from here.
One of the youths was identified as Arjit Behera while the other’s identity is yet to be established. Behera was a native of Manatri area under Soro police limits. He was returning home along with the pillion rider last night when the mishap took place.
Locals said that accidents and deaths on the NH 16 have become a regular affair. No proper signages, unguarded road construction work, blind diversions, wrong-side driving, and overspeeding heavy vehicles, all of these and many other factors make a perfect recipe for fatal accidents.
“How many more months or years it will take for completion of 1,660 km NH 16, and the gory scenes/blood spilled on the road are brought to minimum or zero,” a group of commuters near Tangi area of Cuttack said.
Death might be a one-day affair, but the economic impact of road traffic fatalities over the years for the victim’s family is for a lifetime. Concerning no – But what and how long will it take? Remains to be seen.
