“Earlier, we gave away our land for the construction of the highway, now it is the turn of our lives”, said Rangamma, an aged woman at Madenur in Hassan taluk on Wednesday. Four women of the village were run over by a four-wheeler on Tuesday evening. The driver of the car turned to his left to avoid hitting a cow on the highway, and in the process four women were killed on the spot.
All the four were waiting to cross the road at around 5.45 p.m. after working in the ginger fields when the accident took place.
Kalamma (50), Giddamma (56), Jayamma (45) and Sharadamma (55), residents of Madenur, died on the spot. They were only a few metres away from their houses.
The village, with four deaths in one day, wore a deserted look. Relatives gathered in front of each house were in tears, cursing the highway for the accident. “They were on the footpath waiting for the road to clear so that they could reach home, when the vehicle hit them. Three women were thrown high up before they fell down with a thud, such was the speed of the car”, said Manjula, an eye-witness. Those who witnessed the accident are yet to come out of the shock.
Hundreds of youths gathered on the highway on Tuesday night soon after the accident and staged a protest condemning the lack of safety measures on the highway. Surendra, a youth of the village, said: “We have our houses on one side of the road, while our agricultural fields are on the other side. We have to cross the highway very often. The National Highway Authority of India has neither constructed a pedestrian passage way nor has it constructed speed breakers at the points where the highway meets roads connecting villages”, he pointed out.
The highway was widened and made four-lane road last year. Many people have parted with their land for the work.
“We gave our land for the road to make the rich people travel in high speed. Now, we are losing our loved ones in the accidents on the same road”, said Rangamma, a resident.
Many times in the past, residents of villages located on either side of the highway passing through Hirisave, Channarayapatna and Shantigrama have staged protests demanding underpasses, pedestrian crossings and service road, and other road safety measures.
