It is a dangerous walk for padayatris

January 17, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 10:41 am IST

Two devotees on padayatra to Palani were fatally knocked down by a speeding SUV on Virudhunagar-Madurai highway on Thursday.

The Pongal day snuffed out the lives of the brothers for no fault of theirs, but due to the negligent and rash driving by the SUV driver. In the accident reported at 5.45 p.m. at Nallamanaickanpatti junction, V. Karnavanna Arasu (43) and his brother V. Tirumalai Arasu (38) of Sivakasi were killed on the spot. Driver S. Ramesh (28) of Dharmapuri was arrested.

But, this is not an isolated accident. Five lives were lost in a similar fashion, including one each in Sholavandan and Samayanallur police station limits, in the past 15 days. A few others have been grievously injured. The worrying factor is that even two-wheeler riders are hitting devotees walking on the roadside, that too on the wide four-lane highways.

In some cases, the devotees could be at fault like walking on the white line of the lane meant for two-wheelers.

In some cases, they walk side-by-side and enter the carriage way. “It will be better if the devotees take precaution and walk one behind the other,” Samayanallur Deputy Superintendent of Police Kanthasoruban said.

He attributed the accidents to lack of lighting that blinds two-wheeler riders. “The dim lights are not adequate enough to counter the glaring lights of four-wheelers coming in the opposite direction,” he said.

Must walk in groups

The devotees should try to walk in groups of five to 10 so that drivers could notice at least one and avoid hitting them, Tirumangalam DSP D. Arasu said. He suggested that the devotees could save themselves by wearing jackets with reflective stickers so that they could stand out in the dark when headlights fall on them.

Mr. Kanthasoruban said that the police could also try out an experiment of asking devotees to take the extreme right portion of the road instead of the extreme left. “This way the pedestrians could see the oncoming vehicles and have a good chance of jumping off the road if they find any vehicle approaching them dangerously,” he said.

The devotees should be told about this at the originating point of the padayatra itself, he said. However, he suggested that an exclusive pedestrian walkway, like the one put up between Oddanchatram and Ayakudi, will be of much help.

Padaytaris are exposed to danger from speeding vehicles on highways, writes S. Sundar

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