The main culprit is alcohol, and those who provide it

The people of Kerala were in shock after reading the description of the incident in which five people were tragically killed in Nattika, Thrissur. A lorry driven by a drunk driver lost control and ran over five people, including two children, who were sleeping on the other side of the temporary barricades beside the bypass where road works were ongoing. Beyond the distress of a road accident, the reality of helpless conditions of life is now disturbing to the conscientious Keralite.

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As per reports, the laden truck that was going from Kannur to Kochi was stopped at Mahe and the driver and the cleaner helped themselves to alcohol to their fill and that is the main villain in this tragedy. The cleane driving at 3:30 am did not see any written signs on the road. When the driver was so drunk that he could not drive any longer, the unlicensed cleaner took the wheels and without any inspection on the way, it rushed to disaster.

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Although it is not precisely clear if the deceased were nomads or not, the fact is that they came there because they had no place to settle permanently in their homeland. Tens of thousands of such homeless people sleep in front of shops or in the open with the sky as their roof in Kerala, a state where schemes like Laksham Veedu Colony and Life Mission were established to eradicate homelessness. Although the gargantuan task of providing housing for all the homeless is not feasible, governments need to at least gradually address the housing problem, starting with a system where everyone can sleep safely. In densely populated Kerala, it will be more difficult than in other states. However, if the high social consciousness of the state and the cooperation of philanthropic initiatives are tapped to good effect, solutions will start taking shape.

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This is not only a problem of road safety in Kerala. According to the Kerala Police's own statistics, 3884 people died in 48,091 road accidents in the state in 2023. Of this, the number of people who drove under the influence of alcohol is only 21. True, Kerala has the second-highest number of road accidents per capita. Road accident deaths in 2023 were marginally lower than in 2022 (4104). However, it should be reckoned that the real extent of drunken driving is not fully reflected in the case of deaths caused by alcohol. There may be many reasons for this. Firstly, the blood aocohol test is not done in time in all cases. There are also cases where no traces of intoxication can be detected in the blood test results conducted late. An example is when an IAS officer in Thiruvananthapuram delayed a blood alcohol test and it failed to detect the presence of alcohol in a blood test after a journalist was run over to death by a car he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

Also read: India's alcohol-related deaths more than double that of China: WHO

When it comes to night patrols and inspections, the Transport Minister himself bemoans that the vehicles required to carry out adequate inspections on the state and national highways at night are not available and funds are not being allocated for the same. Strangely, there is money to insert full-page advertisements for splashing projects and developments and to organize government events with pictures of administrators. At the same time, sadly enough, there is paucity of funds to effectively provide emergency assistance to the people during night patrolling.

Also read: Liquor consumption kills 3 mn people annually: WHO

Another major problem is the easy availability of alcohol along the highways, which have heavy traffic at night, mostly of heavy vehicles. Following the 2016 Supreme Court ruling that liquor shops should not be allowed within 500 meters of the national highway, many were closed down. But the states' liquor lobby and the political leaders who support them approached the court and succeeded in obtaining a ruling that the said ban did not apply to national highways within municipal limits. In densely populated states like Kerala, some part of the national highway will definitely be within the municipal boundary itself. Those who caused the accident in Nattika must have stopped the vehicle on the highway in Mahe Municipality, which is adjacent to the national highway, and easily bought liquor without even turning off the engine. The common question raised about alcohol consumption is whether people who want to drink or are used to drinking won't always find a way. The answer from experience is that the easy availability of alcohol encourages the habit and adds temptation. If the government does not recognize the problem and the legal and administrative mechanisms turn more effective with remedies that hit at the core of the issue, people's lives will continue to be difficult. The only solution is for people to be careful not to vest such irresponsible people with power.

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