THATTA, April 30: Fatalities on Thatta-Hyderabad National Highway are persistently increasing due to the shortage of public transport, improper maintenance of highway and lack of medical emergency services, besides, blind and narrow curves. This was revealed in a survey undertaken by this correspondent.

Around 100 accidental deaths were reported in 16 months from January 2010 to April 2011, mostly on weekends and majority were students and traders.

The most horrific accident took place in August last when 14 people died near Sanpa Mori. While two months earlier, in June four passengers lost their lives in two accidents.

However, last week only, six people died and 24 were injured when a van collided with a truck.

It is roughly estimated that over 1,000 students both boys and girls of different institutions travel every week to and from Hyderabad. There are three universities in Jamshoro and one in Tandojam.

In addition, tens of hundred of commuters mostly traders, patients, employees and peasants frequent this highway.

Commuters have no choice but to make their journey through private van services but transporters, in their greed, stuff 22 passengers against the seating capacity of 12, thus risking the lives of all on board.

The route becomes awful busy on weekends as picnickers from Karachi and Hyderabad visit Keenjhar Lake, Bhambhore, private water lagoons, farm houses and shrines.

The additional traffic creates a mess on the highway, while boulders carrying tons of stones and other extracted material from Thatta to Karachi add to the woes of commuters. The husk carrying trucks with extended loads not only obscure the onward vision of traffic following behind but the absence of any sign and lights in these are also dangerous and life threatening.

The route passing through the hilly terrain of Khirthar range is zigzag with blind curves and dangerous inclinations thus posing a high risk for inexperienced driver.

The Sindh Road Transport Corporation successfully plied its fleet of buses till 1992 but afterwards it began shrinking and finally vanished away.

However, many transporters tried to test their luck by replacing it with their transport but somehow could not succeed because of extortion mafia and intervention of influential people.

Van owners are supported by officials from the Sindh government who don’t let others ply their transport by refusing them route permits.

Social organisations including Shagrid Action Committee, Save Thatta Movement and Thatta Youth Organisation had met the DCOs, former district nazims and elected representatives several times for restoration of bus service and provision of medical facilities to hospitals on this route but to no avail.

DCO Mohammad Jaffar Abbasi said that he had asked the National Highway Authority to install warning signs on the highway, widen curve sites and turning points and repair the highway for minimizing incidents.

It was further revealed that the Emergency Ward of Makli Hospital was bereft of the required equipment, including ambulance service, oxygen cylinders, wheel chairs, stretchers and above all doctors and paramedical staff.

Some known personalities like a provincial minister Abdul Jalil Memon and a former president Thatta Press Club Mohammad Jalalani, apart from many others, were taken there after accident but died as they could not be provided the required treatment.

The project of trauma centre had yet not been taken up despite being announced by the Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

People of Thatta have called upon the authorities to start public or private bus service on this route, properly maintain blind curves and other difficult sites on the highway and take notice of lack of facilities in the hospital.