Biratnagar, April 19
The eastern region of Nepal has been witnessing a steady rise in the number of road traffic accidents and resulting deaths every year.
Records kept at the Itahari-based eastern regional traffic police office suggest at least one person dies every day in 4-6 road accidents that happen here daily.
The region has witnessed 8,130 road traffic accidents in course of five years, resulting in the death of 1,662 people.
Motorcycle tops the list of vehicles involved in road accidents in the region. In course of five years, the eastern region saw 6,997 bikes involved in road accidents, as per the records.
According to traffic police, road accident deaths have been increasing by 20-30 per cent every year. Of the 16 districts in the eastern region, stray cattle are the major reason behind road accidents in the region’s Tarai districts.
Most of the road accidents occur in Morang, Sunsari, Saptari and Siraha districts, the districts in the plains. Apparently, the number of deaths is higher in these districts, compared to the hilly districts of the region.
Stray cattle cause 60 per cent of the road accidents in the region, according to Pawan Kumar Giri, traffic police DSP, said.
In the fiscal 2072-73, 1,193 road accidents occurred in the eastern region, killing 238 people, according to the records.
From Shrawan to Chaitra-end, 2072 (July 1, 2015-April 12, 2016), 1,053 motorcycles met with accidents. While in the fiscal 2071-72, 434 people died in 1,716 road traffic accidents.
In fiscal 2070-71, a total of 1,959 accidents occurred, killing 388 people, whereas in 2069-70, a total of 365 people died in 1,335 accidents. In the fiscal 2068-69, 228 people died in 1,300 road accidents in the region.
There are 120 black spots in the eastern region, as per records. Five Tarai districts of the region — Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa — surpass hilly districts when it comes to the number of accidents. Ninety-three of the black spots lie in these five districts.
In five hilly districts of the region — Solukhumbu, Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Bhojpur and Sankhusabha — the government has not deployed traffic police personnel, leaving the roads unregulated. The regional office, though, has deputed some traffic police personnel in these districts.
Thanks to a shortage of human resources, a traffic police officer has to look after a 25-kilometre stretch in the region that has around five lakh vehicles — 3, 84, 960 registered at Mechi, Koshi and Sagarmatha zonal offices of the department of transport management and rest of the vehicles registered at transport offices based in other parts of the country.
