THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - April 14, 2018 - Topic 2

Preventing accidents

Bald data on Indians killed or injured in road accidents put out annually by the Centre obscure the human impact of the carnage on national and State highways, as well as urban and rural roads. Given the level of official indifference, it would be unsurprising if the deaths this week of at least 23 children and many others in a school bus crash in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, or of the 18 labourers in a lorry accident in Maharashtra, or of nine people in a truck mishap in Uttar Pradesh are mere blips on the radar of administrators. 

Bringing sanity to the roads of a fast-motorising country seems to be nobody’s responsibility. India as a whole is inured to the ghastly toll every year, although the Supreme Court has been trying to shake governments out of their apathy through the Committee on Road Safety it constituted in 2014 and several specific and time-bound directions. The response of the Centre and the States has been far from responsible. Take the issue of safety black spots on roads that were identified on the basis of fatal accidents between 2011 and 2014. The Union Road Transport Ministry stated in March this year that only 189 out of 789 such spots had been rectified, while funds had been sanctioned for another 256, and the rest were either under State jurisdiction or awaiting sanction. Incremental approaches such as this result in the shameful national record of about 150,000 dead and several hundred thousand injured annually.

The Kangra accident needs to be probed by qualified transport safety experts to determine the factors that caused it. There needs to be a report on the crash, to identify lapses, if any, and to take up remedial road engineering measures. The apex court has directed that the performance of district committees should be reviewed periodically. This should ideally follow mandatory public hearings every month for citizens to record road risk complaints. Forming the much-delayed National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board, with a provision for State governments to participate, has to be a top priority. Without expert help, executive agencies such as the Police and Public Works Departments are unable to conduct a technical investigation into an accident. Only a scientific system can stop the routine criminalising of all accidents. The present investigative machinery does not have the capability to determine faults, enabling officials responsible for bad road design and construction and lax traffic managers to escape liability. For accident victims, there is also the heavy burden of out-of-pocket expenditure on medical treatment. The government had promised to address this issue through a cashless facility, but it has not been able to do so as the requisite amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act have not yet been passed. Ultimately, road safety depends on enforcement of rules with zero tolerance to violations, and making officials accountable for safety. That can be ensured even today.

Vocabulary

Obscure: not discovered or known about; uncertain.

Example: His origins and parentage are obscure

Synonyms: unclear, uncertain, unknown, in doubt, doubtful, dubious

Carnage: the killing of a large number of people.

Example: For this day of carnage and tears there can be no justification or excuse.

Synonyms: slaughter, massacre, mass murder, butchery, bloodbath

Mishap: an unlucky accident.

Example: Although there were a few minor mishaps, none of the pancakes stuck to the ceiling

Synonyms: accident, trouble, problem, difficulty, setback, adversity

Ghastly: causing great horror or fear; frightful or macabre.

Example: She was overcome with horror at the ghastly spectacle

Synonyms: terrible, horrible, grim, awful, dire, frightening, terrifying, horrifying

Responsible: having an obligation to do something, or having control over or care for someone, as part of one's job or role.

Example: The department responsible for education

Synonyms: in charge of, in control of, at the helm of, accountable for, liable for

Sanctioned: give official permission or approval for (an action).

Example: Only two treatments have been sanctioned by the food and drug administration

Synonyms: authorize, permit, allow, warrant, accredit, license, endorse

Jurisdiction: the official power to make legal decisions and judgments.

Example: Federal courts had no jurisdiction over the case

Synonyms: authority, control, power, dominion, rule, administration

Approach: a way of dealing with something.

Example: We need a whole new approach to the job

Synonyms: method, procedure, technique, modus operandi

Remedial: giving or intended as a remedy or cure.

Example: Remedial surgery

Provision: the action of providing or supplying something for use.

Example: New contracts for the provision of services

Synonyms: supplying, supply, providing, giving, presentation, donation

Mandatory: required by law or rules; compulsory.

Example: Wearing helmets was made mandatory for cyclists

Synonyms: obligatory, compulsory, binding, required, requisite, necessary

Determine: ascertain or establish exactly, typically as a result of research or calculation.

Example: Officials are working with state police to determine the cause of a deadly bus crash

Synonyms: ascertain, find out, discover, learn, establish, calculate

Capability: power or ability.

Example: He had an intuitive capability of bringing the best out in people

Synonyms: ability, capacity, power, potential, competence, proficiency

Requisite: made necessary by particular circumstances or regulations.

Example: The application will not be processed until the requisite fee is paid

Synonyms: necessary, required, prerequisite, essential, indispensable, vital

Enforcement: the act of compelling observance of or compliance with a law, rule, or obligation.

Example: The strict enforcement of environmental regulations

Tolerance: the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.

Example: The tolerance of corruption

Synonyms: acceptance, toleration, open-mindedness, forbearance