Doda (J&K): Local people in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda Wednesday accused authorities of failing to repair bad roads in the district despite repeated requests and demanded a probe into the devastating accident that left 37 people dead.
A bus carrying passengers skidded off the road and rolled down into a 300-foot gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district on Wednesday. At least 37 people died and 19 were injured in the incident. The toll is likely to go up.
Sarpanch Mohammad Ashraf said a series of road accidents took place in Doda district recently but the authorities have failed to contain them.
“Ten accidents have taken place in Doda over the last few months but there is no effect of this on the administration. They have failed to contain them,” he said.
Ashraf added that he was among the first to reach the accident spot and begin a rescue operation along with local people.
He also said that the road is in very bad condition and is not safe for travel.
“People are here to repeatedly collect bodies after every accident…” Ashraf added.
“As a public representative, we gave them an amount of Rs 6 lakh to repair the road. They failed to repair this road. They might have misappropriated the money. A few months ago, a similar accident took place here and we lost many lives,” he alleged.
Sarwar Khan, a resident of the Trungal-Assar area, urged authorities to immediately repair the hilly road, fill the potholes and ensure black topping to save people from getting killed due to bad roads.
“We demand a probe into this accident. Those responsible for failure to maintain the roads should be brought to books,” he said.
The bus bearing registration number JK02CN-6555 was reportedly carrying around 56 passengers, officials said earlier in the day, adding that it skidded off the road near Trungal-Assar on the Batote-Kishtwar national highway and fell 300 feet downhill.
