BALASORE: On October 12, six persons, including a couple and three students, died and four were critically injured in an accident on NH-5 at Manjuripur near Simulia, about 50 km from Balasore.On October 9, eight tourists, including two women from West Bengal, died in a mishap on NH-5 near Kupura square under Simulia police limits.The latest being two bikers who were crushed to death, near Bhadrak and at Khantapara respectively on NH-5. The highway has witnessed 20 deaths within a week. Most of these accidents occurred in the morning or wee hours. While Simulia police station IIC Sukadev Tudu said the drivers had dozed off before the crash, lack of parking lots along the highway is also being blamed for the rising number of accidents.According to locals, drivers of long-distance trucks often stop on highways for food at dhabas and park the vehicles along the road. The truckers do not switch on the parking lights which proves fatal, they alleged. Police said the stretch between Balasore and Chandikhol on NH-5, on an average, witnesses four accidents a week. On several occasions, victims succumbed for lack of immediate medical attention.A social activist Dilip Kumar Parida said it is difficult to spot a truck parked along the roadside during dense fog. “Long-distance drivers often doze off resulting in accidents. Moreover, there is no check on speed of vehicles on the NH during night and morning hours. Intensive highway patrolling may help bring down the number of accidents,” he said. Trucks and heavy vehicles should not be allowed to park along the road, he added.According to a survey, the State records 2,500 casualties from more than a thousand accidents in a year and three times that number sustain injuries. Nearly 40 per cent of these accidents take place on the national highways.Though the NHAI has decided to construct nine mega parking lots, each with a capacity to accommodate 300 vehicles, for trucks on the Bhubaneswar-Chandikhol stretch, there are no plans as of now for Balasore-Chandikhol stretch.Balasore motor vehicle inspector Biranchi Narayan Adhikari, however, said a drive had been launched against roadside parking. “The patrolling team is taking up the issue with the drivers on a daily basis. And soon the truants will be penalised,” he added.
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