Traveling during festivals: Roads and life must be safer

During festivals such as Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath, our nation witnesses a mass exodus as individuals travel in hordes to their hometowns to celebrate the festival with family members. The biggest of all the festivals being Dashain puts millions on the roads across the nation. Buses, jeeps, and microbuses crowd roads with individuals eager to be back with their dear ones. This boom in traveling activity imposes incredible pressure on the transport system, which often reveal poor road and vehicle safety standards that often claim lives.One of the significant reasons behind the increase in accidents is the bad state of most passenger vehicles. At such peak travel periods, demand surges and owners overwork their vehicles. Most buses and jeeps are in a bad state of safety requirements. Mechanical breakdowns are common; and, on mountainous routes, even small accidents can turn fatal. Even the passengers themselves are unaware of dangers of traveling on poorly maintained vehicles. Festive travel also coincides with the rainy season, when erosion and landslides make several highways difficult to travel on.