On June 27, on the Indore-Dewas highway, there was an 8 km long jam for about 40 hours, in which more than 4000 vehicles were stuck. During this, 3 people lost their lives. On June 14, a three -year -old child died in a severe traffic jam of an ambulance, taking a three -year -old child near Kottiyur in Kannur, Kerala.
Kamal Kishore Tandon, a 62 -year -old tourist from Delhi on 7 June, died on the way to the hospital after being stuck in a fierce traffic jam in Mussoorie. On May 6, a bike -riding youth was seriously injured in a collision with a dumper in Sumerpur police station area of Hamirpur district of UP and due to the jam being stuck on the highway for three hours, he did not get proper treatment on time and due to this he died due to this.
On April 24, a heavy jam due to time road construction work in the main market Dehra in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh took away the life of an elderly man of 75 years. 24 February Kota Kota took the life of an innocent in Dara Nal on National Highway-52 of Rajasthan. This is a hallmark. Such reports are often heard, read and seen. After two to four days, the train starts running on the old pattern.
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The latest episode is 40-hour jam on the Indore-Dewas highway. There was a 40 -hour jam … No one can imagine that after 75 years of independence, it may take 40 hours to travel 40 km. It usually takes 16 to 20 hours to travel from Delhi to New York. Meaning that the flight from Delhi to New York has come to reach Dewas from Indore. The route from Indore to Dewas is just 40 kilometers.
The High Court of Madhya Pradesh had reprimanded the National Highway Authority of India i.e. NHAI responsible for the incident. Certainly, in the case of this accident and thousands of people being stuck in the jam for hours, while NHAI needed to apologize, he made an insensitive statement blaming people for the unfortunate incident. Responding to the court on June 30, the NHAI counsel said that “Why do people get out of the house so in the morning without necessary work?” This comment by NHAI created anger among the people.
Hearing his statement, people feel that the NHAI is avoiding taking responsibility for the incident and is trying to blame the common people for the incident. Even the Madhya Pradesh High Court has described the attitude of NHAI as rigid and insensitive, which is going to ignore the ground reality. As the dispute escalated, NHAI said that this comment does not reflect the official views of the authority.
While the work of constructing roads, high-veg and expressways is going on in full swing to get rid of traffic problem in the country, on the other hand there are some cities which are much more troubled by internal traffic. In fact, not only the problem of traffic jams, but also small towns struggle. But in big cities it has started taking the form of a crisis.
According to one information, one liter of fuel is wasted in an hour jam. The more fuel is consumed, the more seotu emissions will also be, which is harmful to the environment and pollution as well as the economy. According to an estimate, traffic jams in the metropolis and on the highway every year in the country are losing up to Rs 1.4 lakh crore every year.
According to the Tomatom Traffic Index 2024, Kolkata’s traffic in the country is the slowest. Bengaluru has made second place in this list. More or less such situations are from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Chandigarh, Gurugram, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kanpur, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Varanasi and other metros and cities of the country.
According to doctors, those stuck in the jam often face diseases like increasing blood pressure, burnout, respiratory disease, dehydration, fever, nervousness, chest pain etc. If a serious patient gets stuck in a jam for a long time, he can also die. In 2022, the Allahabad High Court while hearing a petition said that if the ambulance is now stuck in the jam, it will be considered a crime and action will be taken under the damage to the patient. Despite this, there is no significant difference in its situation.
There is no doubt that if the network improvement of roads has saved the time and funds of consumers, then the industry-business has also gained momentum. But all the discrepancies related to this have also come out. Questions have also been raised about the faulty design and lapse in construction of roads. At the same time, endless inconvenience during the construction of large roads and highway projects is everyday experience for Indian travelers. Most sites are not sure to adopt the best traditions associated with construction, passengers friendly and to minimize traffic disruption.
According to experts, to eliminate the problem of jam, first public transport will have to be increased. Apart from this, people will have to be made aware for car pooling so that the number of vehicles on the road can be reduced. A major reason for the road jam is also to be cut everywhere. The problem of jam can also be overcome by the construction of service roads along the main roads for the movement of foot and small vehicles. Places where service roads cannot be built due to dense population. Elevated roads, underpasses and flyovers etc. can be constructed there.
In order to reduce the congestion of roads in the cities struggling with the jam, the Central Government has planned to take other measures, including ring road, bypass, for a permanent solution to the problem of jam in 94 cities with more than one million population of the states. In UP, people will be laid a network of bridges, ring road and bypass to provide relief to people from the problem of jam. The Public Works Department will spend a budget of Rs 6124 crore in financial year 2025-26 on their construction. On the instructions of CM Yogi, this blueprint has been drawn by PWD.
Undoubtedly, the incidents of jam in the cities of the country are continuously increasing. The administration should make efforts in a scientific way in the direction of its logical solution. On receiving the information of the jam, there should be an immediate initiative to open it. Medical facility should be available immediately for passengers. Of course, the incident of Indore-Dewas Highway is unfortunate, for which the Indian National Highways Authority of India, ie NHAI, should be taken seriously. All the apprehensions should be avoided which can become a factors of repetition of such accidents in future.
-Dr. Ashish Vashistha
(freelance journalist)