Another Young Life Lost to Reckless Driving in Kolkata

The new year has already opened with another road carnage in Kolkata this time it involved a child. The 14-year-old Manna Alam was killed late in the night on Thursday when he was hit by an overrun truck at a busy intersection at the Kalutola street and Chittaranjan Avenue under the Bowbazar police station.

Manna was riding across the intersection at around 11.30 p.m. A moment later a fast truck ran over him and hurled him on the road. He was in a critical condition and people who were passing by came to give first aid and called the police. Manna was taken to Kolkata medical college hospital and the doctors who examined him declared him dead on arrival.

Manna lived in the Purnia district of Bihar and had come to Kolkata in order to pay visit to relatives. To his family, what was supposed to be a short visit has proved to be in a tragic irreparable way. His parents have been notified by police, and are about to drive to the city with the view to retrieving the body of their son.

According to investigators, the events that led to the accident point to a fatal accident exacerbated by irresponsible driving. Police sources said that Manna had a bicycle painted in a long handlebar and the handlebar got stuck on the guardrail when he was trying to make a turn at the cross-road. He fell over and landed on the highway and before he could stand on his feet the truck ran over him. The motorist is said to have made no time to slow down.

The driver is arrested and the police have taken over the truck. The case has been handed over to the Fatal Squad of Lalbazar that is looking at the exact conditions of the accident and establishing the blame.

The death of Manna has brought back the memories of two similar tragedies that rocked the city towards the end of last year. On 28 N November, a student Aranya Chakraborty, aged 9, was killed on BT Road after cycling to school after being hit by a speeding bus. The same 11year old Srinjoy Dutta was killed just days after, when a truck hit the motorbike Dutta was riding with his father on their way to school near the Maniktala Bus Depot.

Different locations. Different vehicles. The same outcome.

The people living in the area of Kalutola Street argue that accidents are always imminent. One of the local shopkeepers commented: Heavy cars here travel fast even in the dark. There is no fear. No slowing down.”

According to police officials, an elaborate investigation is being done and an appropriate action will follow. But in the case of the family of Manna, nothing can be done to revert the loss by investigation. A boy who used to ride out in the road will now be brought home in a coffin.

With another headline of fatal road-accidents looming over Kolkata, the question still lingers with an aching familiarity; how many more children are going to die before the roads become really safe?