PUDUCHERRY: The incidents of families losing their bread winner, young sons or daughters on the 12 to 15-km stretch of East Coast Road (ECR) from Puducherry (Muthialpet) to Kalapet in road traffic accidents have increased at an alarming rate. Such accidents have become a common phenomenon. At the Kottakuppam police station limits, in Tamil Nadu, cases registered showed that 21 people died and another 75 suffered injuries of varying degrees this year alone. Adding to this number are some more accident cases registered in traffic police station in Puducherry limits.The main culprits in these accidents are cars, buses and lorries. Police booked cases against 20 cars (8 fatal cases), five buses (two fatal), five lorries (three fatal), three autorickshaws (one fatal), and 15 cases (non-fatal) involving two-wheelers.Though it is a highway, the road is used by hundreds of people on a daily basis to go to Pondicherry University, Pondicherry Engineering College, Dr B R Ambedkar Government Law College, Pondicherry Institute of Medical sciences, a self-financing medical college, industries, private schools, reputed hotels and of course Auroville. What is of concern is speeding vehicles ramming two-wheelers and fatally injuring the riders. Just two days ago a father and son duo was killed and another father and daughter duo injured, when a bus hit the two vehicles in succession. The road is narrow without any dividers for most parts, except a small one near the university. Restrictions on speed of vehicles on the road are required, said JAK Tareen, Vice Chancellor of Pondicherry University. Depending on the capacity of road and the curvature, traffic restrictions should be imposed and monitored. Dividers are a must. The highway should be made into a four lane, he added.Whenever a speeding vehicle tries to overtake, there is no space on the sides to move away on the narrow road, said Francoise Koechlin, a resident of Vaithikuppam for the last37 years who is a frequent user of the road.Though it is a toll road, the toll gate is situated beyond Puducherry limits and no attempts have been made to widen the roads, said Francoise and added that buses,cars and lorries drive at the same speed on this stretch leading to accidents. “There is definitely a need for speed breakers,” said Birgitta Volz, an artist who was hit on the road by a tractor one-and-half-years ago. She suffered heavy injuries to her back and though she recovered after one year of treatment, she is yet to regain her strength in her fingers. While speed breakers are a necessity, they should be near the by-lanes that cut into the ECR,” she said. It is not speed alone, but also drunken driving which causes accidents, said Tareen. People who come here to enjoy the booze and then take to the wheel.
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