Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & Nalgonda MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday demanded adequate compensation to the families of agricultural laborers who were killed and injured in a tragic road accident in Devarakonda.
Uttam, along with ex-ZP Chairman Balu Naik, DCC President Shankar Naik, and other Congress leaders, visited Devarakonda Hospital on Friday and paid last respects to the mortal remains of agricultural laborers who were killed in the accident. He offered condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims. He also gave Rs. 4 lakh assistance on behalf of the Congress party.
Speaking to media persons later, Reddy said that nine agricultural laborers were killed and 11 others got seriously injured in the tragic road mishap. He demanded that the State Government pay Rs. 20 lakh ex-gratia each to the families of those killed in the accident. He said adequate compensation should also be paid to those injured in the accident besides ensuring their free treatment.
Expressing deep grief over the loss of lives in the road accident, Uttam demanded that the State Government take immediate measures to ensure road safety across the Telangana State. He said that there was a huge rise in fatal accidents, especially in rural areas. He said drunken driving, overloading of public transport vehicles, rash driving, and bad roads were among the main reasons for such accidents. He said it was the duty of the State Government to take measures to ensure the safety of common people at all places. However, he said that the TRS Government was paying less attention to the safety aspect and the Devarakonda accident was an example of negligence by the local authorities. He said that the local police and transport authorities were neither checking over-loading of private seven-seater autos, jeeps, and other vehicles, nor adequate steps were being taken to check drunken driving on highways and other roads, especially those connecting rural areas.
He said that poor villagers and agriculture laborers were forced to board over-loaded rickshaws, jeeps, or lorries due to the absence of a public transport system like the RTC bus. Therefore, he demanded that the State Government take immediate steps to ply and increase the frequency of RTC buses in all the rural areas to discourage people from risking their lives to travel to a particular place. Further, he said local police and transport authorities should be directed to sensitize the local people, especially the drivers plying auto-rickshaws, jeeps, vans, etc., on road safety and the importance of each and every life. He also demanded the setting up of well-equipped trauma centers, especially in accident-prone zones to save the lives of the accident victims.
