R. Subasri’s death in an accident on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Road in Pallikarani, Chennai, on Thursday last has revived memories of the death of K. Ragupathy, who died in the city on November 25, 2017.
Subasri was killed after a lorry ran over her when she lost balance and fell after a hoarding erected on the median on the road fell on her. Ragupathy was killed under very similar circumstances near the Coimbatore Medical College on Avinashi Road when he lost balance and came under the wheels of a lorry after hitting the pole of a banner erected for the MGR centenary celebration.
Ragupathy’s death sparked outrage in Coimbatore and other parts of the State as well, as people took to social media to vent their anger. The official machinery swung into action, made the right noises, arrested the lorry driver and promised to remove all the illegal hoardings in the city.
As the news of the death of Raghupathy, a software engineer who had returned from the U.S. to see his prospective bride, faded in public memory and the official machinery turned its focus on other issues, the need for removing unauthorised hoardings, advertisements, etc. too was put on the back burner. Or so it appears.
Now the official machinery in Coimbatore has woken up again, after Subasri’s death. Corporation officials say that after the corporation commissioner issued special instructions, they have removed more than 1,000 hoardings in all the five zones in the city.
But what were they doing thus far, asks consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon. The very fact that the officials have removed so many hoardings in the last few days shows that the unauthorised advertisement structures were in the city for long, posing a threat to motorists. And, that the officials who move around the city regularly did nothing about it but have acted only after an incident.
“This is the classic knee-jerk reaction that the official machinery displays after an accident,” he says and refers to the official machinery making noise about hoardings after the deaths, buildings safety after the fire accident in a building at Lakshmi Junction or the safety of schools after the Kumbakonam fire accident to underscore his point. “The officials act as if they act that too only after such tragedies,” he adds.
The Corporation officials say that they have been periodically removing hoardings and cite statistics to back their claim. (see table for hoardings removed)
The officials add: removing hoardings and advertisers putting up new advertisements have become a cat-and-mouse game. The corporation, this time, has removed not just the banners but also the structures that support them – the skeletal frame.
The corporation has also warned the advertisers that it will very seriously view the next offence and levy penalty. The officials say that in the past few months the corporation has lodged complaints with the Coimbatore City and Rural police.
An activist, who does not want to be named, says that in such cases there are multiple layers of culpability. People or officials responsible in each of the layers much to taken to task for their negligence and unless this done such accidents will continue.
Though Subasri’s and Ragupathy’s deaths have caught attention, there are thousands of accidents that have not merited the kind of scrutiny or reportage that the two have seen. For accidents, fatal or otherwise, that occur due to absence of caution boards for speedbreakers or dividers or potholes or bad road design, there is hardly a whimper as the cause is not analysed and accountability is not fixed, the activist adds.
Echoing similar opinion, Dr. S. Rajasekaran, Chairman, Ganga Hospital, says every accident is avoidable as somebody is accountable. To prevent accidents, the investigating agency has to go into the root cause of accidents, hold responsible those concerned while initiating action. Until such an exercise happens, the society can do post-mortem analysis of accidents as it does now but that will not bring back the lives lost.
But very little happens, laments N. Karthik, DMK MLA from Singanallur, who filed a case before the Madras High Court after Ragupathy’s death. He filed a writ petition with a prayer for removal of all hoardings. As it did not happen, Mr. Karthik says he has filed a contempt petition and that is pending before the court.
Since the writ petition and the contempt thereafter, the corporation has done very little to remove hoardings. The police too is doing little. If the two act against those responsible for the erection of hoardings irrespective of political affiliation, the menace will come to an end.
Mr. Kathirmathiyon says the action for violation of rules should also be against top bureaucrats, including civil servants because unless the top man is held accountable, those officers down the line will not fall in line. This should be seen in the light of the stinging observations by the High Court that it has lost faith in the administration, he points out and adds that there is no point in making junior officials the scapegoat.
For accident due to potholes or faulty road design or speedbreakers that do not confirm to norms, the officials should be held accountable, he reiterates and points out that so poor is the accountability that officials are able to get away and do not realise the gravity of their incompetency.
“This lack of accountability is the reason that the Coimbatore Corporation has failed to keep the height of manholes on a par with road surface – a very small step towards ensuring road safety.”
For the families of victims, though, it is an irreplaceable loss. Subasri's death brought back memories of her brother's death, says K. Revathy, Ragupathy’s sister.
The family talked about it – the grief in the woman’s family, something that it can relate to. But there has to be a positive outcome from it – transformation of all, including officials, to prevent such accidents. “Instead of saying yesterday Ragupathy, today Subasri, tomorrow who, if the society says yesterday Ragupathy, today Subasri, tomorrow I, everybody will change and do what is right.”