Frequent accidents and poor security measures have made the Mannuthy-Karukutty stretch of National Highway 544 one of probably the most harmful roads within the State.
As many as 80 folks had been killed in 893 accidents on the 37-km stretch of the national highway from Mannuthy to Karukutty up to now two years from March 2021. In all, 1,018 folks suffered accidents, many of them critically, in these accidents.
The statistics had been made out there by way of RTI queries by the Nerkazhcha Human Rights organisation. Since 2011, after the street was made four-lane, 710 deaths had been reported on this stretch, P.B. Satheesh, director, Nerkazhcha, stated. The statistics had been collected from numerous police stations on the stretch comparable to Ollur, Puthukkad, Kodakara, Chalakudy and Koratty.
“According to the statistics collected by Nerkazhcha, in the past 13 years, from 2011 to 2023, 4,459 accidents took place on the Mannuthy-Karukutty stretch. In all 710 people lost their lives and 4,243 people were injured, Mr Satheesh said.
Unscientific construction and lack of safety measures are cited as the main reasons for the frequent accidents. Unlike other States, there are densely populated areas on both sides of the national highway. There are no subways or foot overbridges for people to cross the road.
“In all, 177 pedestrians died in 666 accidents after they were hit by speeding vehicles while trying to cross the road. The toll road has become a model for how not to construct a national highway. There is no proper lighting or storage lane on the road,” the Nerkazhcha alleged.
There are guidelines to punish contractors, engineers, and national highway authorities if accidents happen on account of potholes or poor roads. But every time accidents occur, the police defend these folks by blaming motorists’ carelessness as the explanation for the accidents, it stated.
