Bloodshed on roads: A request to MVD officials

Taking away the harmony of many families, the roads in Kerala still remain the hotbed of gore accidents. The Taurus and tipper lorries ram across the roads with little regard for smaller vehicles, as if making the public reckon about their ‘lordly’ demeanour.

The accident on March 19th in Ambalapuzha was not any creation of a Taurus lorry. However, the bike which was driven by Ananthu, a 25-year-old BDS student, lost control after hitting a bicycle and went straight under a Taurus lorry coming from the opposite direction. Ananthu died tragically in the incident.

Since then, more than a dozen people have lost their lives in accidents caused by tipper lorries and Taurus.

Many expected the government and the officials to wake from their slumber and issue a special schedule for tipper lorries to travel on Kerala roads. However, even the repeated deaths and bloodshed on roads did little to evoke a reaction from the authorities.

More and more Tipper and Taurus lorries are entering roads, operating in connection with the construction works going on in the state, including the development of national highways.

For contractors, to deliver materials including gravel and cement to the job site, there is only one profit motive: to deliver more loads in less time. It is this 'speed' that heightens the demand of lorry drivers and thus they care less about other lives scuttling through the city roads.

According to existing rules, Tippers are strictly regulated during peak hours. They should also follow specific guidelines while ferrying loads. There is no dearth of laws, or no dearth of MVD officials to make routine checks. So what is that special one that helps tipper lorries to break all such norms to do their ‘death run’ on the city roads?

The havoc wrecked by tipper lorries and the deaths lost have now reached a staggering total. Hearing the recurring accident news on media portals is grief-inducing but now, it even invites shock since the numbers are on the rise. On Sunday, seven people in Kerala lost their lives in road accidents.

It will be a 'lordly act' worth appreciation if the MVD officials spare some time to focus on heavy vehicles in the city and enforce the rules rather than dedicating a whole day staying unnoticed in some corners to ambush poor bike riders.