Spread the love

By Our Reporter

Both the roadways and air services of Nepal do not look safe. This is evident from the increasing number of road accidents and the recent Saurya air crash.

When the country was mourning the demise of scores of passengers of two buses which went missing in the Trishuli River on July 12, the crash of an aircraft of Saurya Air in Kathmandu killed 18 on July 24.

Of the 62 missing passengers of the two buses which were swept into the Trishuli by a landslide at Simaltal in Chitwan, the bodies of only 24 have been found. When the search for the missing bodies was going on, the Saurya Air crashed in Kathmandu.

Of course, road accidents have, of late, become common in the country. Almost every day, fatal road accidents occur. Even on Monday, two were killed in Pokhara when a school bus met an accident.

What leads to the accidents? Obviously, negligence on the part of regulatory bodies is responsible for the increasing number of accidents. In the case of the Saurya Air crash, the aviation authorities should be blamed. Why did the CAAN allow the aircraft to carry so many passengers when it was being taken to Pokhara for maintenance? One infant died in the crash, but the airlines included him as a staff! It was sheer negligence of CAAN authorities.

Likewise, violation of traffic rules and bad conditions on roads are responsible for the increasing number of road accidents. Also, the tendency to open road tracks without carrying out a proper study also results not only in landslides but also accidents. In the Simlatal accident, a new road track is blamed for leading to landslides which pushed the two buses into the mighty Trishuli River.

Again, the road expansion works as well as the 2015 earthquake had made the hills through which the key roads pass, weak.

Although the government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate the Saurya Airlines plane crash, it may only blame human error for the crash. In Nepal, most aircraft are old and lack timely maintenance, which also results in fatal crashes.

The commission, chaired by Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, consists of five members. The other members include Captain Dipu Jwarchan from Nepal Airlines Corporation, Prof. Kuldeep Bhattarai from Pulchowk Engineering Campus and Sanjay Adhikari.

Mukesh Dangol, an Air Traffic Control Officer from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, is the member secretary of the commission.

Captain Manish Ratna Shakya is the only person to survive the crash and he is now receiving treatment at the KMC Hospital in Sinamangal.

Meanwhile, the government is planning to abandon the search for the missing passengers of Simaltal bus accidents. The Indian divers have already returned to India stating that the search was impossible in the river.

Prior to this, Tara Air crashed in Pokhara’s Seti George killing 72 on board, including four crew members on January 15, 2023.  Before the Tara Air crash in Pokhara, another Tara Air Twin Otter plane flying from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed on a cliff in Thasang Rural Municipality-2, Mustang, on May 29, 2022, killing 22 people, including three crew members.

This is the 66th accident in Nepali skies involving human casualties. In total, 109 aircraft accidents have been recorded in Nepal.