On Thursday evening, Ramita Bhatta, a woman of Baitai, was killed by a tipper truck in a busy road at Mahendranagar. The situation along the East-West Highway remained tense after Bhatta died on the spot. A large group of irate locals pelted stones towards the tipper truck.

According to eyewitness Urmila Bhat, a local of Gobariya, the truck was cruising at a high speed when the accident occurred. Police are yet to declare the cause of the accident.

On the second week of June 2019, four people died when an excavator and an auto-rickshaw collided head-on at Bangaun along Mahendranagar-Gaddachauki road. These are not only isolated incidents. Almost every day, the highway area witnesses minor accidents due to the heavy traffic barreling through junctions at high speeds. “Speeding tipper trucks and auto-rickshaws are the main cause of the accident in Mahendranagar,” says Bhat.

According to the data of the District Traffic Police Office in Kanchanpur, 13 people have died in 31 road accidents in the first six months of the current fiscal year. In those accidents, 33 people were injured. In the last fiscal year, 45 people were killed and 22 were injured in 68 accidents.

Stretches like the Gaddachauki-Daiji section and the Jholunge Pul-Mahendranagar road section are busy throughout the day because of tipper trucks and tractors (which carry riverbed materials from Mahakali river). Prakash KC, police inspector of the District Traffic Police Office in Kanchanpur, said there’s huge traffic flow along the highway, but the road condition is still pitiable.

This is why minor accidents occur here almost every day. According to him, accidents also occur because of the driver’s negligence and lack of awareness in pedestrians.

Locals are demanding the concerned authority to impose a ban on plying goods carriers carrying construction materials during office hours. Janga Bahadur Malla, chairman of Kanchanpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said traffic police should take initiatives to limit the speed of auto-rickshaws and tipper trucks along the bazaar area. “It is essential to manage the flow of vehicles during peak hours. For that, tipper trucks and tractors should be stopped or sent through an alternative way,” said Malla.

Dipak Joshi, a local of Gaddachauki, said fatal accidents can happen on the highway area anytime. He said, “The traffic should be anyhow managed in the Gaddachauki-Daiji stretch and Jholunge Pul-Mahendranagar road section.”

The District Traffic Police Office in Kanchanpur, however, has been discussing with concerned stakeholders to manage the traffic flow. KC said, “We have been talking with the local administration and concerned entrepreneurs to divert goods carriers carrying construction materials through an alternative route during peak hours.”