Following the failure of the authorities concerned to check the plying of condemned passenger vehicles, people themselves have started a campaign to check the violation of traffic rules.

“We have lost faith in government agencies,” said Ravinder Slathia, who along with other youths was intercepting overloaded passenger vehicles plying on the road near Udhampur. He opined that it was due to the lack of will among politicians that road accidents were taking place frequently in the hilly areas of the Jammu region.

In Udhampur and its outskirts, people have constituted squads to keep a tab on overloading and plying of condemned passenger vehicles. They intercepted an overloaded minibus, which was on its way to Bharmin from Udhampur. Passengers standing in the minibus were asked to come out and the bus driver was warned.

Besides checking the overloading of passenger vehicles, people have also decided to check documents of the vehicles, including fitness certificates and driving licences of the drivers.

It is widely alleged that drivers plying vehicles in the remote hilly areas do not have valid driving licences and most of them have managed the licences with out a proper test.

Anil Sharma, a local resident, said it was not wise to depend upon the traffic police or the Motor Vehicle Department as these departments had failed to perform their duties.

Most hilly areas of the Jammu region have been confronting a shortage of passenger vehicles and people have to travel in overloaded buses and mini buses.

Source: The Tribune