The Patna traffic police and district transport office have begun a drive against the alleged presence of sand mafia along the 35km stretch from Bakhtiarpur till Beur Mor to control the alarming number of road mishaps.

“Between 2010 and 2013, there have been a total of 265 fatal road mishaps on the stretch causing several deaths. The total number of accidents is well over 500. The main reasons behind the accidents are the heavy vehicles such as trucks and tractors, which are loaded with sand. The drivers don’t care about the administration and dump the sand by the roadside making the stretch narrower,” said Patna superintendent of police (traffic) Prantosh Kumar Das.

He added: “Many a times, the vehicles are parked on both the sides. This results in traffic jams and frustrated motorists change lanes and move on the wrong side of the road. There have been many accidents like these and little action has been initiated. The stretch always witnesses the movement of heavy vehicles mainly from both sides.”

On Tuesday, the officer, along with the district transport officer, seized a total of 14 heavy vehicles parked wrongly on the stretch. “This included six trucks and eight tractors and they all will be penalised. The menace needs to be controlled else it will result in more casualties. So many mishaps in three years is alarming,” the SP said.

Sources said those operating the trucks were not told anything by the administration owing to several factors.

“These trucks and tractors are engaged in the sand business and are backed by influential people. Straight-head businessmen cannot run the transport companies and there is always muscle and influence involved. One cannot name them but they are very influential having strong connections in the government ranks. Hence, even after so many incidents, the administration fails to act sternly,” a police officer said.

The sand business is a profit-making venture with a lot of construction taking place in Patna and in other districts. “It is a difficult deal to tackle them,” he said.

Many officers said though the drive will continue, the cooperation of the Patna police was essential. “The traffic police can deploy two of its constables at the spot. They are no match when compared with the mafia. The nearest police stations (Bakhtiarpur and Beur) can deploy officers to patrol continuously along the area to ensure that no trucks are standing by the roadsides nor sand is dumped. There has to be a collective and honest effort to stop the menace,” the officer said.