Ankola: NWKRTC bus falls into ditch as driver fails to maouevre steep turn at Vaddi Ghat; 49 injured
Ankola: In a road accident that reportedly occurred in the taluk on Saturday night, 49 people including the driver of a state transport bus were injured as the bus fell into a trench at a turn on the Vaddi Ghat. No casualty was reported in the accident.
The North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) bus was taking 49 passengers from Ballari to Kumta.
With the road work going on along the Kumta-Sirsi stretch, vehicles have been forbidden from using route. The NWKRTC bus involved in the accident on Saturday diverted to the Vaddi Ghat route. The driver, however, failed to manouevre on a dangerous turn on the Ghat and, as a result, the vehicle fell into the ditch and repeatedly toppled three times.
The passengers reportedly sustained minor injuries and the locals helped to get them out of the ditch immediately. The passengers were sent in private vehicles for treatment at hospitals in Ankola and Kumta.
The matter was brought to the notice of Ankola Police and Transport Department officials, who rushed to the scene and inspected the situation.
The locals as well as Zilla Panchayat member GM Shetty told the officials that the turns on the Vaddi Ghat were dangerous and steep, making it difficult for drivers to manage. They urged the officers to widen and repair the road and take additional safety measures to prevent accidents along the route.
A case has been filed at the Ankola Police Station and investigation is on.
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Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
