With the Traffic Police choosing to look the other way, overloading in buses, sumos and tempos going on unchecked notwithstanding the fact that people have lost their lives in accidents across the Poonch over the past months. Daily passengers risk their lives by travelling in these overloaded buses, Sumos and Tempos. Playing of high-pitch music by drivers, overcrowding and reckless driving have become a daily phenomenon. One can see the scary picture of these overloaded vehicles at Mandi to Salonia route. Almost at every route & every stop, one will find an overloaded minibus, Sumo passing in front the traffic cops while these men in blue are hardly bothered about it.
irfan, a resident of Salonia said, “Overcrowding is the major problem being faced by the passengers today. During peak hours, the minibuses sumos and tempos are not only packed to capacity but many passengers hang outside which is extremely dangerous. The race among the matador drivers to pick up maximum passengers has many times led to serious tragedies, but neither the operators nor the enforcement agencies have learnt a lesson. There is a dire need for better regulation to make travelling on the roads terror free and safe.” Mamta Singh, a resident of Poonch area, remarked, “The private and mini bus operators always try to make good profit by resorting to overloading. Unfortunately, the policemen don’t take action against the violators as the latter had developed a nexus with them and they pay them Hafta (bribe) for illegal ferrying of more passengers than the seating capacity of their vehicles. They are hardly bothered about the life of passengers.” kaleem ahmed, a college student shared, “There is news of an accident in the papers daily, but one thing that comes to mind is that why we, the passengers board such vehicles in which the seats are already occupied. I strongly believe that it is high time that we, the youngsters should take some initiative as Traffic Police alone cannot do anything. There is a need to educate people about the traffic laws. It’s time for a change now and we have to make it possible because ultimately we, the passengers are the ones who are the victims of this rash driving.”
