HAMIRPUR: It is a small town which can be covered in one long walk, but that doesn't mean people of Hamirpur have a narrow range of awareness.
With voting having begun early in the morning, groups of youngsters, women and the elderly were scattered across town on Sunday. Outside the government intermediate college, which had a well-decorated polling booth, a group of youngsters was in animated discussion on what the 'mood' of the public was.
In the age group of 22-29, the all-male gathering shared various concerns, talking to TOI. While unemployment was a common concern, their views were stronger about another worry.
"Residents of Hamirpur witness a tragedy almost every day because of the 'khooni highway' that connects bigger cities to our town. It needs urgent attention of the next government," says Danish Ali, referring to NH 34, locally known as Kanpur-Sagar highway. "There is no divider on the highway and truck traffic is dense. Every day, there is a mishap because of this," says Syed Anas, an engineer, working with a private firm in Sumerpur, a nearby town.
The root cause of the alarmingly high number of accidents is deeper, analyses Zeeshan Siddiqui. "Dozens of trucks carry sand mined illegally from near the Betwa river. These trucks are always overloaded and in a hurry because they need to dodge inspection by authorities. As a result, drivers are erratic and do not think twice before crushing whatever comes in their way," he said.
Pankaj Kumar, who runs a transport business, joins in. "There is widespread corruption in the entire mining business. It is ultimately the public which pays the price. Each one of us has lost someone we knew to an accident on this highway in the past three-four years."
"If we had to choose one issue that the next government must take up on priority, it is this," adds Pawan Sahu, who runs a transport agency.
A look at news reports of accidents shows that while the claim of 'daily deaths'may be exaggerated, the highway definitely has a dark record. Hamirpur is expected to see a close contest with BJP's Manoj Prajapati, SP's Ram Prakash Prajapati and BSP's Ramphhol Nishad in the fray.
Ashok Kumar Singh Chandel, who had won the seat for BJP in 2017, is in jail for a murder case. Bypolls were held in 2019 which were won by BJP's Yuvraj Singh.
