Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said negligence by the bus owner and driver was responsible for the recent road accident in Udhampur district and asserted that strict action would follow after completion of an ongoing inquiry.
The Chief Minister, who visited the injured from the accident that occurred in the Ramnagar area a few days ago, said the vehicle was being driven by a person who was not a regular driver.
“It is unfortunate that this accident occurred due to the negligence of the bus owner. The regular driver was on leave, and the vehicle was handed over to someone who had recently been driving a truck,” CM Omar told reporters at GMC Udhampur.
He said records have shown that the bus had a history of violations. “More than 15 challans had already been issued against the vehicle,” he said, adding that this indicated a pattern of disregard for rules.
The Chief Minister said an inquiry has been ordered and an accident officer is currently investigating the incident. “Let the investigation be completed. Once the report is submitted, the recommendations will be implemented accordingly,” he said.
Rejecting suggestions that poor road conditions led to the accident, the Chief Minister said available evidence pointed otherwise. “If the road condition had been bad, the vehicle would have moved slowly. The problem is not always the road but the mindset of drivers,” he said.
He said issues such as overspeeding, overloading and wrong-side driving continue to contribute to accidents. “While the government will fulfil its responsibility, bus owners and drivers must also understand their duty. There should be strict action against violations,” he added.
On tourism, CM Omar said the government is working to maintain stability and improve conditions in Jammu and Kashmir. He acknowledged that last year’s Pahalgam attack had an impact on tourist inflow but expressed optimism about recovery.
“As the season picks up, we are hopeful that visitors will continue to come, whether for pilgrimage like Mata Vaishno Devi and Amarnath or for tourism,” he said.
Referring to the first anniversary of the Pahalgam attack, CM Omar described the day as painful and said the government remains committed to preventing such incidents in future.
“We remember those who lost their lives. They had come for holidays but were targeted. We are still in grief, but we are committed to ensuring such incidents do not happen again,” he said, calling for coordinated efforts by the government and security agencies.
On whether there has been any change in Pakistan after ‘Operation Sindoor,’ the Chief Minister said such assessments depend on intelligence inputs but asserted that India would not allow a repeat of such incidents.
Commenting on the ongoing tensions involving Iran, he said the conflict should end as it was impacting global supply chains and pushing up oil prices.
“This conflict is affecting every country. We hope it ends soon,” he said.
