Former Additional Secretary to Alappuzha biker; accidents galore in Kerala

Not even a single day passes without Kerala reporting a dreaded road accident news. The most vulnerable on the list are pedestrians and two-wheelers. Due to the criminal negligence of those in charge, an elderly woman and a 32-year-old scooter passenger died in two separate incidents in Kuttanad and Thiruvananthapuram.

Despite recurring accidents and deaths, the official mechanism is still in slumber and is not willing to adopt any measure to put a stop to such accidents. The system will continue doing its inept work with the Human Rights Commission sending a notice to the responsible officials. Over the years, many such letters from the commission have reached the officials but time has proven it as nothing less than a petty charade.

Former Additional Secretary of Secretariat VS Shailaja (72) met a tragic end after falling into an uncovered drain in the capital. At around 7:30 pm on Saturday, she fell into the drain near Edavacode Padma hollow bricks. The drain was more than one and a half meters deep. It was only in the morning that locals noticed her lying unconscious in the drain.

Shailaja was on her way to visit her daughter Dr. Anju’s house in Kallampally Pratiba Nagar. She didn’t inform her daughter about the visit and Shailaja’s husband was also with her daughter. So the family thought Shailaja to be at her ancestral house all night.

According to the Police:

Shailaja reached Kallampally by an auto rickshaw and started walking towards her daughter’s house. CCTV visuals show Shailaja moving towards the aisle of the road and taking another route through Mulavoor lane in fear of strays. In the darkness, she slipped into the drain, which was left uncovered.

Construction of drains and safety covering is the responsibility of local bodies. Municipal corporations, always showing green signals for the construction of big shopping complexes in constricted pathways are less concerned about the open drains and pedestrian safety. In these days, the footpaths are occupied by unlicensed street vendors. Other areas are damaged and are unfavourable for walking. In this dilemma, pedestrians are often forced to walk through the aisles of the road, escaping only by a whisker from the fast-moving vehicles. Violations of these rules will come before the police on traffic control duty. Uncovered and dilapidated drains are a regular sight everywhere in cities.

There were also many cases of vehicles falling into such open drains in Kerala. It is unlikely for drivers to notice the openly kept drains in such crammed traffic spots. A safety audit of old and broken drains should be carried out and steps taken to repair them. A small fraction of the allocation that local bodies spend on unwanted extravaganza can be used for closing all drains in the city roads.

In another case in Alappuzha, a youngster while travelling on his bike with family, died in a freak accident. A rope tied across the road for cutting a tree down got tangled into the youngster’s neck and brutally killed him. The victim was unaware of the rope in the place and went ahead. It is learned that no police permission was taken before blocking the road using the ropes. The reckless act has caused irreparable loss to the youngster’s family.

Many lives continue to suffer. If a similar accident make headlines in tomorrow's newspaper, dont be surprised at all. The officials are still dozing. Let’s hope it ends soon.