Now Reading: Girl dies as ambulance stuck in mud for 3 hours in J&K
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Girl dies as ambulance stuck in mud for 3 hours in J&K
A 17-year-old girl died while being taken to hospital in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir after the vehicle carrying her remained stuck in mud for nearly three hours. The Chak Methyani-Panglar-Kotecharwal…
The Story in Brief
A 17-year-old girl died while being taken to hospital in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir after the vehicle carrying her remained stuck in mud for nearly three hours. The Chak Methyani-Panglar-Kotecharwal road, the only link for several remote villages, was damaged by a mudslide last monsoon and had been temporarily restored. A mudslide two weeks ago again made it unmotorable, though the PMGSY engineer had told officials in a WhatsApp group that the road was trafficable. The girl's family was taking her to Government Medical College Rajouri when the vehicle got stranded at Chak Methyani. Volunteers pulled it out, but her condition worsened and she died en route.
The Additional Deputy Commissioner Kotranka's report found the road in 'extremely poor condition' with deep ditches. District Development Commissioner Abhishek Sharma suspended the assistant executive engineer of PMGSY Sub-Division Kalakote pending inquiry. The executive engineer of PMGSY Division Rajouri has been asked to explain why disciplinary proceedings should not be initiated for misreporting the road's status. The ADC report noted that residents of Narla Bamble, Kotecharwal and Panglar continue to face difficulties transporting patients and supplies.
The Indian Opinion
The death of a teenager on a road that an engineer claimed was 'trafficable' on WhatsApp mocks the very idea of accountability. PMGSY is supposed to connect villages, not become a death trap. The suspension is a token; the real failure is a system where a WhatsApp message substitutes for inspection. Locals had known the road was impassable for weeks. The district administration must now answer: why did no one actually drive down that road before declaring it open? The seven-day inquiry will settle nothing unless it leads to prosecution, not just transfers.
Sources (3): timesofindia.indiatimes.com, hindustantimes.com, indiatoday.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
