People cross a chaotic road at Kalpana Square in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 17: Two persons were killed in road accidents in different parts of the city yesterday confirming its growing reputation for being dangerous for the pedestrians.

Both the victims were above 50 and hit by speeding vehicles while crossing roads. In the first incident, 52-year-old Fakir Charan Nayak was killed near Bomikhal Durga mandap on Cuttack-Puri Road.

Nayak, a resident of Balipatna, was crossing the road near a median when a speeding autorickshaw coming from the Rasulgarh side hit him.

He was severely injured and rushed to a private hospital on outskirts of the city by the Laxmi Sagar police. Later, he died there.

The Laxmi Sagar police seized the vehicle and arrested the driver.

In the second incident, a 55-year-old daily wager died around 9pm after being hit by a scooter at Kalpana Square. The deceased, identified as K. Kanta Rao, used to live in the Telugu slum near the railway line. Rao was crossing the road at the Kalpana Square when a scooter bearing a Rajastan registration number hit him from behind.

The Badagada police rushed the victim to Capital Hospital where he was declared brought dead. The police seized the scooter and arrested the driver, Harekrushna Sahu.

Eyewitnesses said the traffic square was very busy at the time of the accident. Rao was trying to cross the road in front of the fire station when the scooter coming from the Rasulgarh side hit him. The accident led to a traffic jam.

Death of pedestrians has become daily affair in the capital. In the last three days, three persons were killed while crossing the road or taking a morning walk.

On Friday a 82-year-old man was killed and another sustained injuries in a road accident near Stewart school at Nayapalli when they were going for morning walk. A Maruti 800 hit the deceased, identified as Brajananda Mishra, a retired government official, and his friend from behind. The Nayapalli police had rushed the victims to Capital Hospital where Mishra was declared dead.

The police seized the car and arrested the driver who was found to be in an inebriated state. He was forwarded to court the same day.

A senior citizen Braja Kishore Sahu, 62, a retired state government employee, said the roads in Bhubaneswar had become dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists these days.

“The roads have become unsafe thanks to rash driving and drunk driving by youths,” said Sahu.

People who travel mostly on Cuttack-Puri Road everyday alleged that the authorities had made several median cuts without any zebra crossing marked at the right places.

“The stretch is divided by a road divider only at the median cuts. At these cuts, the vehicles as well as pedestrians cross the road and accidents take place,” said Subodh Dehury, a roadside trader.

The police said they could hardly do anything on Cuttack-Puri Road as the national highway authorities had made the road divider and the median cuts.

“We can keep watch on traffic here. However, there are nearly 35 median cuts on the road. We cannot provide personnel at every cut,” said a traffic police officer. He also said they had been conducting raids against the rash drivers.