Residents of the Behala-Thakurpukur belt are yet to recover from the shock of Wednesday?s accident on James Long Sarani, in which 12-year-old Smriti Singh was killed and her father Ashok was critically injured. But not many are surprised that it occurred.

For most residents of the area, accidents have become a part of life ever since work started on the Taratala flyover, causing traffic to be diverted from Diamond Harbour Road to narrower roads like James Long Sarani. The monsoon, in its wake, left potholes of all shapes and sizes, converting the roads into death traps.

The accident raises the toll in the Behala area to seven in the past four days. On Saturday, an autorickshaw collided head-on with a Matador van on MG Road, near the Japanese consulate, killing five and injuring 11. On Monday, one of the injured died.

Police blamed rash driving for the mishap. The tyre marks, however, suggest both drivers had slammed their brakes but failed to avert the collision.

Residents of the area have alleged that not enough police personnel are deployed to man the area, despite increased traffic. ?As long as the roads aren?t repaired and enough police deployed, people will keep dying in mishaps,? said Kanishka Sinha, Ashok?s nephew. He denied that his uncle was not perfectly comfortable with his new motorcycle.

Anil Kumar Singh, Ashok?s elder brother, said: ?My brother might have failed to see the truck, which was coming from the wrong direction, because of the fog. Ever since vehicles have been diverted through James Long Sarani, there have been accidents.?

Superintendent of police S.N. Gupta admitted: ?There are very few traffic guards along the stretch, since we are short of men. We are planning to deploy more guards and set up signals for better traffic management in the area.?