The families of victims of the tragic accident on Hubballi-Dharwad bypass last month, who are yet to come to terms with the loss of their dear ones, marched to the accident spot on Saturday, to pay homage to the departed souls and thereby remind the authorities of their responsibility.
The accident near Itigatti Cross on January 15 had taken away the lives of 12 persons. Barring two young girls, driver and cleaner of the mini-bus, the rest were alumni of St. Paul’s School in Davanagere, who were proceeding to Goa for a get-together.
On Saturday, the family members paid homage to their victims by keeping their photographs and paying floral tributes, in what was an attempt to send a message that they did not want other families to suffer like them and highlight the need for road widening.
The families, who had come from Davanagere, turned emotional on reaching the accident spot. They demanded immediate steps for road widening so that accidents were averted in future.
Ravikumar, who lost his wife Preeti in the accident, said as they reached the accident spot, they felt as if they had entered a death trap. “Please do whatever it takes to widen the road,” he said. As the family members, accompanied by members of various organisations including leaders of the Congress congregated at the spot to pay homage, vehicular movement was blocked for nearly an hour. Those who were passing by also joined the event.
KPCC media analyst P.H. Neeralakeri, who coordinated the event, said that despite repeated attempts to highlight the need for road widening, nothing had happened so far. “The tribute to the victims is another attempt to highlight the need for the road widening. Post the mishap on January 15, three more accidents had been reported on the same stretch,” he said.
Sister of former Chief Minister J.H. Patel, Anasuyamma, who also lost a family member, blamed the officials and elected representatives for the bad shape of the road.
The participants at the event urged Additional Deputy Commissioner Shivanand Karale, who visited the spot, to initiate measures to get the road widened at the earliest.
He was also urged to take temporary measure to put up signboards to warn the motorists.
