I was shocked after reading about the tragic accident on September 14. A bike pillion rider, Rakhi, was thrown under the wheels of a bus after the bike hit a ditch dug up by the water authority.
The water authority had cut the road for repairs more than two months ago and neither they nor the PWD had repaired road, leaving the ditch open. I noticed that the road was repaired quickly after the accident. The repair work was also shabby as there is already a ditch near the spot, which can cause accidents again.
Why was the repair work not done earlier? If the road was repaired immediately after it was cut, this tragic accident would not have happened. It was only because of the negligence, inefficiency and lack of concern for the road users on the part of water authority and PWD that this tragic accident had taken place.
Firm action needs to be taken against the officials concerned at all levels in the two departments and they should be made accountable for this tragic accident. Compensation also needs to be paid to the members of Rakhi’s family.
If it was Rakhi yesterday, tomorrow it can be any of us if the roads are neglected.
Hence it is absolutely essential to punish those responsible for this accident very severely.
--K.G. Jacob, Kochi.
The importance of organ donation is slowly dawning on people. To promote organ donation, Elumana Residents’ Association recently organised a meeting of the association in which the secretary of Abhayam, K.K. Ramachandran, took a class explaining the need of organ donation. Affidavit forms were distributed in this regard and most of the members expressed their willingness to donate their eyes after death. The meeting was inaugurated by Tripunithura Municipality chairman R. Venugopal and municipal councillor Sasi Vellakkat was also present.
—N. Thulasidas, Secretary, Elumana Residents’ Association, Eroor South, Tripunithura .
The Motor Vehicles Department is doing a commendable job carrying out checks regularly and booking offenders so that there is some semblance of order on our roads. But one aspect that does not seem to have been looked into is the utter disregard for pedestrians by motorists. Motorists pretend not to see the zebra crossings or the pedestrians endeavouring to cross roads. Forget stopping, they don’t even slow down. And that is the single-most reason why pedestrians cross the road from wherever they can. Awareness campaign is required both for the pedestrians and the motorists about zebra crossings.
—Bosky C. Alby,
K.R. John Road
—Compiled by
K.K. Sankaran
