No lessons learnt

Trucks continue to take U-turn

Rajiv Bhatia

Zirakpur, December 4
It seems the Mohali police and the local administration have not learnt any lesson from the yesterday’s tragic incident in which two persons were burnt alive when the Honda City car they were travelling in hit the oil tank of a multi-axle trailer taking a U-turn through an illegal turning on the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway.

The authorities concerned failed to take any measure to close the illegal median at entry point of Zirakpur near the sales tax barrier.

A visit to the spot revealed that trucks were crossing the median putting at risk their as well as commuters lives in danger. Traffic cops at the spot were mere spectators as they failed to take action against the errant truck drivers. A number of trucks parked on the roadside at the sales tax barrier also cause traffic congestion.

In the absence of any blinker, indicators and streetlights, minor accidents are a routine affair on the stretch.

SSP, Mohali, GPS Bhullar said they had already written to the Mohali DC and the Excise and Taxation Department to provide parking facility for trucks to take the U-turn. The entry point too needs to be widened. “Since most of the trucks don’t have permits to enter Chandigarh, they need space to take the U-turn,” he added.

Dera Bassi DSP JS Khaira said the issue of illegal thoroughfare near the sales tax barrier had repeatedly been taken up with the authorities concerned. He said he had already written to the Mohali SSP for removing the sale tax barrier.