A recently constructed national highway connecting Dehradun to Paonta Sahib has become a cause of serious concern due to a lack of basic safety measures. According to police, this is a one-way road designed specifically for vehicles coming from Paonta Sahib. However, the route currently lacks essential infrastructure such as signboards, traffic markings, reflectors, warning indicators, and proper lighting.
Due to these missing safety features, eight accidents have occurred in just 10 days, resulting in three fatalities and leaving six people seriously injured. Despite repeated notices from the police, the issues were not addressed. As a result, on Thursday, an FIR was registered against the highway’s operations manager.
One of the major problems is that vehicles traveling from Premnagar Chowk towards Gol Chowk mistakenly enter this one-way road. Since there are no warning signs, drivers remain unaware that they are moving in the wrong direction. They can only exit the road about four kilometers ahead near Gol Chowk, increasing the risk of collisions.
Police reported that on April 8, a severe collision between two vehicles left a युवक critically injured. On April 10, another accident led to the death of a युवक, with several others injured. Multiple such incidents have continued to occur.
SHO Premnagar, Naresh Rathore, stated that the operations manager had been issued several notices to fix the safety issues, but no action was taken. Taking suo motu cognizance of the matter, police have now filed a case against the operations manager, Lokesh, and initiated an investigation.
According to sources, police had even taken the operations manager to the site and instructed immediate corrective measures. However, authorities allegedly showed no seriousness in addressing the problems.
