Rasulgarh Square in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, April 16: Rasulgarh Square has become a death trap with two consecutive accidents taking place within a week.

A 49-year-old yoga teacher died in a road mishap at Rasulgarh Square this morning. The incident took place around 6am when Chandramani Nayak, a native of Nayagarh and staying in Saheed Nagar at present, was travelling on his motorcycle to attend yoga classes and an oil tanker hit him.

Eyewitnesses said that the oil tanker coming from Cuttack hit the motorcycle leading to his death on the spot. Later, police rushed to the spot and sized the vehicle. The police have also arrested the driver of the tanker. The police suspect the driver was probably drowsy during the incident.

This is the second incident of road mishap at the busy square in past four days. Earlier on Sunday, an 18-year girl had died after a crane hit her while she was walking to her residence in Rasulgarh. The victim Sasmita Sutar, who was rushed to the Capital Hospital, died there. Following the accidents, local residents had ransacked the crane.

Local residents alleged that the undergoing construction of flyover and poor traffic management has turned the square into a fatal zone.

“This is the entry point to the city and the square remains busy throughout the day. But the traffic cops are concerned only about penalising the drivers. Instead, they should be involved in traffic management throughout the day to curb accidents,” said Bairagi Behera, a local resident. He also said that around 10 accidents including two major ones have taken place this month so far. While the construction of the flyover is progressing at a snail’s pace, this has led to major traffic chaos at the square. “The authorities should complete the construction of the flyover at the earliest possible to decongest the traffic at the square,” said Narahari Behera, another local resident.

“We have deployed adequate traffic personnel at the square to ease the traffic. Besides, we are not permitting the heavy vehicles to enter into the city during peak hours,” said Binod Das, assistant commissioner of police (traffic).