Condoling the tragic road accident in Guwahati's Ganeshguri, that claimed the life of an 11th standard girl student on Thursday, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that there were two aspects in the case, the two-wheeler was attempting to overtake the school bus from the wrong side and secondly there was an open pit on the roadside.
The chief minister said that he has directed the Deputy Commissioner of the Kamrup Metro District Administration to look into the issue and find out the reason behind keeping the dug-up pit open on the roadside.
“After watching the video, i have directed the district administration to find out where there are dug-up pits in the city; I have also instructed the Guwahati traffic police to be strict against drivers or motorists, those who try to overtake from the wrong side. This habit of overtaking from the wrong side should be stopped immediately,” said CM Sarma.
Earlier today, an urgent meeting was called at the office of Kamrup (Metro) District Administration on Thursday in connection to the road accident.
Contractors of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), officials of transport department and traffic police attended the meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha.
The administration issued instructions and initiated action against erring agency.
Meanwhile, State congress secretary and All India Professionals Professionals' Congress (AIPC) Assam unit Gauravv Somani condemned the Kamrup (M) administration in strong words for the complete failure in handling the state of affairs of the Guwahati City.
Citing the incident of the Ganeshguri accident where a class 11 student of Little Flower School died on the spot as she fell down while riding the two wheeler which got stucked in the manhole digged for pipe laying by JICA and comes beneath the passing school bus.
“The entire city is facing the problem of worst conditions of roads as the JICA contractors are not reparing the digged roads after pipe laying work is completed. The digged manholes are left unattended and the district administration has turned a blind eye to such problems. The city road conditions have gone from bad to worse and the State Government have completely failed to address the problems. Uncovered Footpaths and culverts are inviting accidents for the pedestrian on a daily basis,” said Somani.
He further said that entire city is struggling with the unplanned traffic management and congestion. Most of the automatic traffic signals are agin turned to manual arrangements further causing chaos and confusions while driving on roads. But there is no one to address such issues. Administration issues toll-free numbers and find an escape route from the problems.
“The City residents are complaining of contaminated water being supplied by water tankers to residential apartments and private residence but there is no system imposed by the administration to monitor and test the water quality. The people have been left alone to fight their battle. High electricity bills after the installation of digital smart meters is again under the radar of technical glitch and electricity measurement. On the top of it insensitive statements by the State assambly speaker of asking people to sit under trees to avoid Electricity bills shows the Government attitude towards the basic problems faced by citizens,” added the Congress leader.
Congress leader Gauravv Somani mentioned that it has come to our notice that Govt has suspended three employees including the Marshall of the Assam state assembly for sharing the video footage of the Ganeshguri accident captured in the CCTV installed in the assembly building, insted Government should have registered a suo moto case and FIR against the JICA officials for their negligence.
