By Rafiullah Mandokhail,
ZHOB: The highest death toll has been recorded on Zhob-Quetta national highway in the last couple of months as dozens women and children lost their precious lives in different road accidents. The N-50 connecting Zhob with the provincial capital has now become a ‘murderous’ road due to the fatal accidents – recorded on daily basis.
Heavy trucks, trawlers, tractor trolleys and rickety passenger coaches are driven recklessly on the highway as no mechanism existing to control such practices. On one hand there are no motorway and highway police to regulate the smooth traffic flow on highway and on the other hand neither in Zhob nor in neighboring district Killa Saifullah the District Headquarters hospitals are well equipped to handle the critical injured. However, a state-of-the-art trauma center at DHQ hospital Zhob is under construction.
The June 02 witnessed a horrifying road accident as an ill-fatted flying coach was on its way to Zhob when collided head-on with a loading truck near Alikhail area of Killa Saifullah, leaving 15 people including seven of the same family dead.
Ex-president Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and member of All Parties Action Committee Dawood Khan Mandokhail quoting some official statistics said, in the last month numerous accidents claimed the lives of thirty people on Quetta road. The highway lacks weight station to prevent overloading of heavy trucks and road furniture including sufficient illumination, warning signs, speed limit signs and lane discipline signs.
“We have requested the Communication Minister Murad Saeed for the deployment of motorway and highway police to prevent the fatal incidents,” he added.
Deputy Director National Highway Authority Engineer Shah Muhammad Sherani said that the NHA covers 387-kilometer highway from Kuchlak to Kataw Dabara. It is the shortest and easiest route to access Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa provinces.
“Over speeding, heavily loaded trucks, tractor trolleys plying on the highway, under age and overage drivers, rickety passenger coaches and violation of traffic rules are behind the deadly incidents,” adding that NHA conducts awareness sessions round the year to prevent road accidents. In order to save precious lives, some concrete steps are needed to be taken. The head of maintenance unit explained.
