A protest was held against GHMC by 400 students of Muffakam Jah College on Wednesday. The students staged the dharna in front of the college demanding a foot overbridge.

The protests also come in light after a ten-year-old child was killed near the Nagarjuna Circle, Panjagutta.

One of the Student Rohit Lingala said, “Over 60 percent of the college students commute by state-run buses and need to cross the roads daily in the morning and in the evening. The management had written to the GHMC commissioner requesting for a FOB. We demand safety measures.”

Students also claimed that everyday students had to cross the road to reach their college due to which accidents happen. According to the students, there were two major and 10 minor accidents monthly. But Banjara hills traffic inspector Vidya Sagar denied the allegation saying that "the jurisdiction saw seven minor accidents that occurred on Roads 9, 10 and 12. It was less than 10 in July."

DCP North, Traffic, L.S. Chauhan added, “The department has advised GHMC to construct a FOB in front of the college. Speed-breakers are not advisable since it needs a free flow of traffic and breakers will lead to more accidents. When approached, 108 ambulance services refused to give data on the number of accident calls received from Road Number 3, Banjara Hills."

According to the latest survey, over 400 people are killed in road accidents every day.In the past one decade, over 1.3 million people have been killed in road accidents but there is still no comprehensive road safety legislation in the country.

Maximum road accidents do not happen just due to rash driving but due to other factors like poor visibility and bad road conditions.

Traffic cops say that every year the number of accidents goes up during the rainy season but many are not reported. Motorists face visibility problems during the rainy season, and dangerous driving, speeding and zigzagging increase the chance of accidents.

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BY M. DIVYA SRI