Okaz

During the recent heavy rains, road accidents have been featured on social media. The collapse of concrete dams, tunnels that have partly collapsed and rocks falling on roads in the mountains have been subjects of discussions. Roads are dangerous during and after the rain.

Once the construction work on roads is completed, it is the responsibility of the concerned authorities to provide proper road maintenance so that accidents do not take place. Most mountain roads need continuous maintenance. Failure to maintain these roads and to eliminate danger before it happens is a great negligence of responsibility. Those responsible for such negligence must be held accountable.

There is no excuse for the lack of safety measures in areas where rocks are falling on the road. There are many mountain roads with no safety measures in place to protect the public from falling rocks.

If the removal of fallen rocks is difficult, then there are ways to eliminate this danger. Road engineers can install concrete barriers at the sides of roads or even relocate roads away from areas where rocks fall. The authorities can also arrange for these rocks to be demolished or for a concrete wall to be built which is high enough to protect the road.

These safety measures cannot be built by good intentions, but by working hard and making a sincere effort to protect the lives of people. For many years, the only objective was to build roads through mountains but without studying the condition of the rocks on the mountains nearby and taking the appropriate safety measures.

Such matters are rarely discussed even with the existing danger and the many accidents that take place on these roads and the deaths that come with them. No one seems to point the finger of blame at those who constructed the roads and then neglected them, turning them into a grave. I wish that these issues would receive the attention that they deserve and would be discussed by officials in order to avoid such dangers.