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Five killed in road accidents on Holi

NEW DELHI: Five persons, including two pedestrians, lost their lives on the city roads on Holi, even as the traffic police initiated a major drive against road offences. This was perhaps the safest holi for the capital as the number of fatal accidents usually stands in double figures. As part of their drive, the cops also prosecuted nearly 10,000 persons for different offences.

A private contractor for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), identified as Gyan Prakash (50), was reportedly killed near C-block, Yamuna Vihar, after the car he was travelling in collided with a divider and overturned. According to the police, Prakash was on the front seat of the Maruti 800 car and was returning after playing Holi at Loni. He and his friends were reportedly drunk. While Prakash died on the spot at 8.30 pm, his friends received injuries.

Two more fatal accidents were reported from east Delhi. In Preet Vihar, 45-year-old Shyamwati was crossing the road when she was hit by a motorcyclist. Another hit-and-run case, also involving a pedestrian, was reported from Mayur Vihar, in which an unidentified man was killed. The vehicle involved in the accident is yet to be traced.

In two fatal accidents, both reported from Dwarka, two motorcyclists were killed. They have been identified as Mahesh Kumar (24) and Jitendra Singh (32).

Last year, 13 fatal accidents were reported in Delhi on the festival, while the figure stood at 17 in 2007. The cops feel the heavy police presence helped in bringing about some semblance on city roads, even as every life lost is precious. During the day-long drive, a total 9,544 drivers were prosecuted. This is almost a three-fold increase from the year before when just 3,260 were caught.

"An analysis of last years' accidents revealed two-wheelers were involved in the majority of Holi accidents. So, keeping the focus of the prosecution on them, a total 6,044 two-wheeler riders were prosecuted on Wednesday,'' said SN Shrivastava, joint commissioner of police (traffic). Of these, 2,556 were caught for driving without a helmet, 666 for pillon rider also without helmet and 738 for triple riding.

As for other offences, 793 drivers were caught for drunken driving (as against only 308 in 2008), 685 for overspeeding and 369 for dangerous driving. In a single day, the traffic police amassed Rs 12,38,100 from on-the-spot challans. They are expected to recover another 16 lakh (approx) from court challans, assuming each of the drivers caught for drunken driving is fined a sum of Rs 2,000

13 Mar 2009, TOI