Hundreds of vehicles and people travel daily in Bagbazar, Tufandanda, Kirtipur and other areas of Dadeldhura headquarters. The risk of accidents has increased due to the absence of zebra crossings on the roads for pedestrians of these places, which are considered important for business, administration, education, and transportation in all respects.
Not only the pedestrians but also the motorists are confused and at risk due to the lack of road crossing signals for pedestrians. 14 people have died and 100 people have been injured in 54 road accidents in Dadeldhura so far in the current financial year, most of whom are pedestrians.
Lately, Dadeldhura headquarter area traffic pressure is increasing . The presence of vehicles arriving from different places for movement is also rare. However, the administration is not interested in making safe infrastructure to cross the road in this area. In the market area, there is no signal to cross the road safely for the rush of vehicles, school going children, office going employees and other common people. Traffic signals and zebra crossings have also been made in the neighboring hilly districts of Baitadi and Doti, but Dadeldhura, the center of the seven hilly districts in the Far West, has not kept such information. The locals have demanded that zebra crosses should be placed in the main areas of the headquarters.
Local Yagyaraj Paneru says, "School-going children feel very scared when they go to school in the morning." It gets more crowded in the evening. Cars don't stop, you don't know when someone will hit you.' According to Paneru, not only children, but also the elderly and women are at great risk when crossing the road in the capital area. He added, 'We don't have any safety system for pedestrians.'
Not only children but other citizens are facing these problems. Basant Nath, a local who runs a grocery shop on the branch road near Dadeldhura Bus Park, says, "You have to go to the market eight-ten times a day on a motorcycle to bring/deliver goods, there is danger on the road in the market area." People are there, vehicles are there,' he said, 'There is no traffic light, no zebracross.'
Although the government has paid more attention to other physical constructions, he demanded that zebracrosses should be placed on the roads here as needed for people traveling in the market area. This problem has also become uncomfortable for drivers. Yogendra Malla, a jeep driver who has been driving public vehicles in this area for 15 years, says, 'You don't know from which place and which person comes on the road. Suddenly a person crosses the road . At that time, when you brake, you are afraid that another car will hit you from behind. According to Malla, this situation happens several times a day. He says, "Pedestrians are safe and drivers are also safe". If there were to be a zebra crossing, people would cross the road only from a certain place, we would also take precautions.'
There are more than half a dozen schools and more than a dozen offices in the district headquarters area. Thousands of children attend that school every day. The responsible bodies related to traffic safety and traffic management of Dadeldhura have also started to accept the seriousness of the problem . Head of District Traffic Police Office Dadeldhura, Deputy Inspector of Police Hark Bahadur Saud says, "We are conducting various public awareness programs to reduce road accidents". Recently, traffic awareness boards have also been placed in the market area. He said, this issue is also being discussed between the district police office and other concerned agencies. Especially children, people with disabilities and the elderly are the most vulnerable groups of road users . Locals say that it is sad that there is still no safe system to cross the road in a place like Dadeldhura which is a main market area.
