Bhubaneswar, Aug. 7: Tension erupted on the National HighWay-203 (Bhubaneswar-Puri) at Uttara Square after three engineering students were injured in a road accident today.
The agitating engineering students blocked the national highway for more than one hour demanding speed breakers and deployment of traffic personnel to control vehicular movement in the area.
The incident took place around 10.30am when an autorickshaw carrying students of a private engineering college in the area collided with a tourist car coming from Puri.
Eight persons were injured, three of them seriously. Two engineering students, identified as Shaini Kumar and Sucharita Sahu, were rushed to a Bhubaneswar-based private hospital.
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(From top ) Vehicles stranded on National Highway-203, students of the engineering institute stage a protest, cops try to disperse the protesters near Uttara Square in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati |
Hundreds of irate engineering students staged a demonstration on the road and blocked the national highway by burning tyres.
“Six months ago, one of our students was injured in an accident. Since then, we have been demanding construction of speed breakers and deployment of traffic personnel in the area. But the authorities are yet to take any action,” said Sakti Prasad Rath, a protester.
On October 5 last year, engineering students of this college had blocked the national highway after a student was severely injured when a bus hit him. The students had ransacked the bus.
Today, as the students agitated on the road, hundreds of vehicles were stranded on either side for more than an hour. The agitation came to an end after the intervention of police.
“We are considering their demands and necessary action will be taken,” said additional superintendent of police, Puri, Dillip Das.
Uttara Square has become a nightmare for commuters with a number of accidents taking place in the recent past. The area also assumes significance due to the presence of engineering colleges and a central research institute.
“A number of students have to cross the square to reach their institutes. The police must deploy adequate traffic personnel to manage the traffic,” said Ratnakar Samal, a local resident.
Many places on NH-203, such as Rabi Talkies Square, Kalpana Square and Garage Chhak, are accident-prone zones.
Police officials said more than 60,000 vehicles pass through the highway, which is a narrow two-lane road, on a daily basis. “Most accidents are caused due to reckless overtaking. Commuters must avoid violating basic traffic rules,” said an official of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police.