Bhubaneswar: Days after two women, including a Bhubaneswar-based journalist, were run over by a bus after falling from a scooter which reportedly skidded on sand dumped on NH-316, Commerce & Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena on Sunday directed for immediate corrective measures to prevent loss of lives.
Acting on his direction, Transport Commissioner has issued a detailed letter to all road-owning and road-maintaining agencies, including NHAI, Works Department, Municipal Corporations, Municipalities and NACs, emphasising their statutory responsibility to ensure clean, hazard-free and traffic-worthy roads at all times.
The letter highlighted that loose sand and construction debris on carriageways significantly reduce tyre grip, leading to skidding and fatal accidents, particularly affecting two-wheeler riders. The Transport Commissioner has underlined that while enforcement action is taken against unsafe transportation of materials, accident prevention equally depends on timely removal of such spillage by the road-owning agencies concerned.
The communication also drew attention to Section 198A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, w
hich provides for accountability in cases of failure to comply with standards for road design, construction and maintenance. As per the provisions, lapses in maintaining safe road conditions can attract legal consequences, reinforcing the responsibility of agencies entrusted with road maintenance.
All agencies have been directed to undertake regular and mechanised road cleaning, ensure immediate response to sand or debris spillages, identify accident-prone and vulnerable stretches, and closely coordinate with enforcement authorities. Any lapse noticed during inspections or accident inquiries will be viewed seriously and fixed with accountability at the field-officer level, it added.
On January 6, Sheela Pattanayak, who worked with leading Odia news channel, was crushed to death under a bus after the scooter in which she was travelling, along with a female companion from Bhubaneswar to Puri, skidded on sand scattered on Bhubaneswar-Puri highway. She died on the spot. Her female companion, identified as Sipika Nayak of Bhubaneswar, was rushed to Pipili primary health centre, where she succumbed to the injuries.
The government’s notification came on a day when journalists under the banner of Odisha Women in Media held a prayer meeting for Sheela, which was also attended by her family members. Concerns about sand dumped on roads creating hazardous conditions were also raised during the meeting, as participants highlighted the rising number of accidents across the state.
Sheela is survived by a 12-year-old son and her parents.