The images that this accident conjures up are now painfully familiar in Jammu and Kashmir:
a mangled vehicle, frantic rescue efforts by police and local volunteers, and grieving families left to piece together a future abruptly shattered. The prompt response of Station House Officer Banihal, his team, and local volunteers deserves acknowledgement. They rushed to the spot soon after information was received, and made strenuous efforts to pull the trapped occupants from the wreckage. Yet the ferocity of the crash left little room for hope: one occupant died on the spot, the other succumbed on the way to Sub-District Hospital Banihal. Once again, it was the people closest to the accident: police, locals, volunteers, who did what they could, while the system that should have prevented such tragedies remains largely unmoved. The Chamalwas–Neel stretch, like many roads in the Chenab Valley, is carved into treacherous terrain – narrow, poorly engineered in places, with inadequate crash barriers and fragile edges giving way to deep gorges and nallahs. In such conditions, any lapse, a momentary skid, a patch of loose gravel, a sudden turn, can turn fatal. Yet how many more accidents must occur before road safety is treated as a non-negotiable priority rather than a ritual expression of “cognisance taken” and “further investigation underway”? This latest crash should compel a hard audit of the Chamalwas–Neel road and similar stretches in Ramban district: engineering flaws, missing parapets and crash barriers, lack of proper signage, poor night visibility, and delayed maintenance. The responsibility does not end with the registration of a case or a routine inquiry. It begins with a time-bound plan to secure identified black spots and to enforce speed and load limits with seriousness. Equally, there is a need for better-equipped emergency response along these vulnerable routes: strategically located trauma care, trained first responders, and clear coordination protocols so that precious minutes are not lost in confusion. Every time a vehicle plunges into a nullah or gorge, officials promise “measures”, and families are left with condolences. Amir Ahmed and Zeeshan Wani must not become just two more names in that long, fading list. Their deaths should force the administration, road agencies, and traffic authorities to act visibly, measurably, and now.
