The latest road disaster at Haldiapadar near Brahmapur (Ganjam) is not an accident alone – it is the outcome of years of negligence buried beneath concrete and ribbon-cutting politics. The Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety has now sought answers from Odisha Chief Secretary Anu Garg after the horrific 31 January crash on NH-16 claimed five lives and left six battling for survival.

A truck driving on the wrong side smashing into three motorcycles is not merely a driver’s fault—it reflects a broken enforcement system, poor highway design (blamed on political leaders of the previous regime), and reckless planning. The previous regime that built and glorified this stretch of infrastructure must answer why basic safety audits, traffic calming measures, and strict monitoring were ignored. Development without safety is deception. Their leadership must answer why the design was made in a wrong way, at the behest of political leaders.

Repeated warnings on overspeeding, wrong-side driving, and weak policing went unheard until tragedy struck.

Now, with the top court demanding a detailed report by March 5, the state faces a harsh truth: roads built without accountability can become corridors of death. Corrective action must be urgent, transparent, and uncompromising, because preventable deaths are nothing short of governance failure.