OHRC asks Odisha govt to pay Rs 5 lakh to parents of a girl student killed in road accident
Bhubaneswar, Jan 5: Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Thursday asked the state government to pay a compensation of Rs five lakh to the parents of a girl student killed in a road accident in College Square Cuttack .
Adjudicating a case filed by one Shiv Shankar Mohanty, an advocate of Orissa High Court Bar Association, the Commission in its order said a copy of the order be sent to Additional Chief Secretary Home who will take steps for the payment of compensation.
The compensation would be paid to the parents within a period of two months from the date
of receipt of this letter and submit an action taken report by March 31, 2023.
Annapurna Choudhury, a plus three student of Ravenshaw University was killed in a road accident
by a speeding truck driven rashly and negligently at College Square Cuttack on September 5, 2019.
Mohanty moved the Commission seeking a direction to the government to pay adequate compensation to the parents of the deceased girl.
The Commission said from the report of ACP Traffic, Cuttack, the inquiry conducted in connection with the accident leading to the death of the girl it is clear that the cause of the accident can be solely attributed to the negligence of — Surya Narayan Sahu ( Havildar), Jagabandhu Wadala (OAPF) and Prafulla Kumar Routray (Home guard).
The Rights body said the loss of life of the young girl occurred due to the dereliction on the part of public servants for whose conduct the state is vicariously liable.
The heavy vehicle causing the accident was allowed to ply on the road during restricted hours.
Under such circumstances the Commission feels that the state is liable to pay a sum of Rs 5 Lakh
as compensation to the parents of the deceased girl.
The Commission taking note of the prevailing situation of traffic hazards and road accidents in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar extended the purview of the complainant suo motu to examine the traffic management system and made a slew of recommendations to improve the
traffic situation in the state particularly in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
Among other things, the Commission recommended that the government should consider increasing the strength of traffic police in various towns of Odisha specially in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar and the existing traffic police staff should undergo periodic refresher of training at least twice in a year .
They should be taught not to ignore even small infractions of traffic rule violations .
The state government, the Commission said, should take steps to remove unauthorised temporary shopping centres, shops, cabins from road sides, and relocate them.
The government should also construct bi cycle paths on both sides of the road and encourage
people to use bicycles, and introduce car pooling in different offices and institutions.
