TURA, Nov 2: In the wake of three people from Purakhasia area losing their lives after being run over by trucks transporting boulder to neighbouring Bangladesh via the Dalu international border recently, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia Garo People (FKJGP) from Garo Hills, on Tuesday, urged the West Garo Hills Police department to take steps to regulate the entry and exit of the boulder trucks along the Dalu-Purakhasia route.
Separate incidents of road mishaps involving the boulder trucks recently led to the loss of three lives from the region, one of whom included a five-year-old student. The latest incident took place on October 25 in which an identified mentally-challenged woman lost her life after both her legs were crushed by a speeding vehicle.
In its appeal to the West Garo Hills Superintendent of Police, the FKJGP urged that the speed limit of such vehicles plying along the SH-12 route be restricted to not more than 50 km per hour. The federation also suggested that proper monitoring of the drivers be done at the entry-exit point of SH-12 i.e. at Garobadha Police Station and Dalu Police Station for consumption of intoxicants. Besides, the federation also sought that restrictions be put on the entry and exit of trucks from both Garobadha and Dalu so that the timing of their plying does not coincide with school and college hours. “Our approach is not to disrupt the economic activity. However, we are also of the opinion that economic growth cannot prevail over the Right to Life,” president of the FKJGP, Pritam Arengh, said.
