Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Nov 2: Two motor bikes which came from opposite directions collided near Padubidri on national highway 66 on Sunday November 1. In this accident, which occurred opposite Lord Janardana temple at Yermal, rider of one of the motor bikes lost his life, while the condition of the other is said to be critical.
The deceased was Rajan Acharya (61) from Hosanagara in Shivamogga district, who was riding one of the bikes. Rajan, who was a wooden sculptor, was going back to Hosanagara after visiting Payyannur in Kerala, when a motor bike coming from wrong direction hit him. The other rider, identified as Rajesh Kotian (35), a fisherman from Yermal Bada village, was admitted into a hospital in Manipal after initially treating him in a private hospital here, in serious condition.
Efforts to save Rajan Acharya were made by taking him to a private hospital in the town, but he breathed his last there.
Padubidri police have registered a case.
People feel that the police are lagging in enforcing discipline among highway traffic, where two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and light motor vehicles are seen plying on wrong side to save time and fuel. It is said that political interference has restricted the policemen from acting sternly. Several lives are lost and many get injured often on the highway because of this wrong practice, which has to be done away with at any cost.