Accident-prone roads: Court seeks status report of vulnerable spots
After multiple road accidents on different Highways, the Court on Friday directed the Expert Committee to visit the vulnerable spots without any delay.
The Division Bench of the High Court J&K and Ladakh comprising the Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and Justice M.A. Chowdhary expressed displeasure over the delay in the visit of the Expert Committee constituted by the Court in 2023.
The remarks of the court came in response to multiple public interest litigation filed by individuals and organizations.
Advocate S.S. Ahmed with Advocates Rahul Raina, Supriya Chouhan and Syed Majid Shah appearing for the petitioners submitted that it is unfortunate that the Nodal Officer (Divisional Commissioner, Jammu) appointed by the Division Bench has taken the directions of the court casually and failed to facilitate the inspection of the vulnerable sites of accidents on Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban/Mughal Road through the Expert Committee.
Advocate S. S. Ahmed vehemently argued that there is no end to the loss of lives on the roads particularly in the hilly terrains of Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban and Mughal Road and in view of the non-serious attitude of the Nodal Officer, Advocate S.S. Ahmed sought his personal appearance before the Court.
After hearing the arguments, the Division Bench categorically directed the Expert Committee to visit the sites for which the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu shall take necessary steps and submit a report thereof without any fail by the next date of hearing with an advance copy to the counsel for the other side.
The case has been listed for the next hearing on 22 April 2024. [KNT]