Kendrapara: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought an Action Taken Report (ATR) from the Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and the Director General of Odisha Police over frequent road mishap deaths of students in Bhadrak district.
The rights panel has asked the authorities to submit their report within four weeks. The next date of hearing has been posted to February 6.
Acting on a plea filed by Supreme Court Lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC has directed compliance of an ATR as to why students in Bhadrak become frequent victims of road mishaps.
Due to negligence and failure of highway authorities and state officials seven school students have died and many others suffered critical injuries in road accidents in Bhadrak district.
The petitioner alleged that two minor students died in a road accident near Bhadrak bus stand on NH-16 while they were riding their way to school September 10 last year. They were crushed under the wheels of a speeding car. The deceased have been identified as Sumit Sahoo of Class VIII and Subhankar Mallick of Class X. The two students had belonged to Kuansh village.
In another tragic incident in July, 2018, five students were killed while four others suffered critical injuries ,after they were run over by a truck near Rahanja on NH-16 in Bhadrak. The incident occurred at 4 pm when the students were returning from school. Four girl students were killed on the spot while another student died while undergoing treatment in the hospital.
As the school is close to the National Highway, the students reportedly cross the busy junction by risking their lives daily. There is no proper road signage, there is no regular monitoring of speed limits and no road humps have been erected on the road.
The Bhadrak district administration has no traffic control system in place. Moreover, the traffic segment has not been separated from the police stations in Bhadrak. Inadequate traffic personnel and infrastructure without proper framework is another reason behind such tragic incidents, alleged petitioner Tripathy.
The state government has distributed cycles to school students without caring for their safety. Ensuring road safety and rights of the cyclists is a state subject. The Centre and the state government should promptly act over the serious issue, the petitioner suggested.
The authorities have neither maintained cycle tracks nor ensured the safety of the cyclists and this amounts to serious violation of human rights, Tripathy added.
