Grief shrouds the family of Nantoor accident victims

Mother and son crematedin Manjeshwar on Saturday

March 01, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:46 am IST - MANGALURU:

Five persons have died and 15 injured in accidents at the Nantoor Junction in Mangaluru since May 2014.— File Photo

Five persons have died and 15 injured in accidents at the Nantoor Junction in Mangaluru since May 2014.— File Photo

The eyes of Sanjeev Naik turn moist as he thinks of how his brother-in-law Krishna Naik will bear the news of the death of his wife Veena and son Nitish. Krishna Naik is in intensive care unit and yet to regain consciousness.

Same is the predicament of Silvan D’Souza who has still not revealed to his cousin Shweta Maria D’Souza that her fiancé Preetam Pinto has died.

Government school teacher Veena (40), her son Nitish P. (13) and motorcyclist Preetam Pinto died after a tipper lorry hit a crane, a car and the motorcycle on Friday evening. Veena and her children Nitesh and Nikita were in the car driven by her husband Krishna Naik, a headmaster in Kendriya Vidyalaya-1 in Panambur. Krishna Naik and his daughter are in hospital.

“It will be difficult for him to come out of this tragedy,” said Mr. Sanjeev Naik, as he waits with other family members at the Government Wenlock Hospital mortuary to collect the body of his younger sister and her son. “It’s hard but we had to finish off cremation without showing the bodies to [Mr.] Krishna [Naik],” said his elder brother Eshwara Naik. Mr. Sanjeeva Naik said they would take care of the young Nikita (till her father recovers).

Following post-mortem, family members took the bodies of Veena and her son Nitish to Anekal village near Manjeshwar in Kerala where the cremation was done. Colleagues of Krishna Naik from Kendriya Vidyalaya and those of Veena from Government Primary School in Panjimogaru accompanied the family members in a vehicle.

Shweta D’Souza was riding pillion with Pinto. A paramedical student, Ms. D’Souza has hurt her elbow. After gaining consciousness on Saturday morning she has been asking about Pinto, a sales representative from Kasaragod, whom she was to marry in a few weeks.

Colleagues of Veena and Krishna Naik are distraught. They remembered Veena as an accomplished teacher, good in the “Nali Kali” system that makes learning enjoyable. Her colleague Shobha said she was to accompany her on Monday for a training programme on caste census. Sunil, Computer Science teacher from Kendriya Vidyalaya, remembered Nitish as a well-mannered and silent boy.

Krishna, a school mate of Mr. Krishna Naik, said his friend was scheduled to move soon to a new house built two months ago in Thokkottu. He had sought transfer from KV-1 to KV-2 in Yekkur, he said. The Kendriya Vidyalaya-1 condoled the death of Nitish and Ms. Naik and kept the school shut for the day.

The death of three persons at the Nantoor Junction on Friday evening in an accident has brought back the question of safety of motorists at this busy junction.

Five persons have died and 15 have been injured, some of who are still undergoing treatment for grievous injury, in three accidents reported since May 2014. “It’s sad that the proposed underpass and flyover at this junction are yet to take shape,” said Bhaskar Kotian, a motorist from Bikarnakatte.

Following an accident in May 2014 in which two persons were grievously injured and another in November 2014 in which two persons died after a bus overturned, the Traffic Police had issued notice to the National Highways Authority of India seeking explanation on why they should not take action against the authority for not taking any measures to smoothen traffic movement at the junction.

This has led the NHAI to widen either sides of the road between Padua School and Nantoor Junction. Assistant Commissioner of Police Uday Nayak said an extra lane was being prepared for vehicles going from Kadri to Padua School and for those coming towards the junction from Padua School. “This solves at least 30 per cent of the problem,” he said. He expressed the hope that approval would be given for an underpass and a flyover, which, he said was direly needed.

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