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| JCB driver died in vain; wake up | | | SANT KUMAR SHARMA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, May 15: Gagan, who earned his livelihood by driving a JCB machine, died on Friday in a freak accident near Maheshpura (Bakshi Nagar). The large rear tyre of the vehicle, measuring over eight feet, burst due to excessive air pressure.
The hapless driver was thrown like a puppet 30 feet into the air as the tyre gave way. His head banged against a concrete wall and he died almost instantaneously. The shop owner, Paramjit Singh, who was filling air into the tyre, was also badly injured in the accident.
It appears that neither Gagan nor Paramjit realized the gravity of the situation as they started filling air into the tyre. The tyre burst as it could not hold the excessive air.
Apparently, the air tank from which the tyre was being filled did not have correct gauze. This is fairly common on the roadside tyre puncture repair shops. The repair shop owners keep old tyres, tubes, some adhesive solutions, sometimes kerosene lighted stoves and run their shops, mostly in shacks.
They come to the rescue of the traveller in case a tyre goes flat due to a nail or a shred of glass or for that matter, a leak in the tube. They serve a useful purpose and these shops are to be found on the roadside as you travel to any part of the country.
From Lakhanpur to Leh, and even beyond, tyre repair shopkeepers like Paramjit help the stranded drivers in moving ahead. They, however, live dangerously as safety norms are almost always given the go by.
``Sab chalta hai'' being their fundamental philosophy of life, may be due to abject poverty or lack of awareness, the chances of freak accidents are always there. It is another matter that more often than not, they are able to do a job, neat or otherwise, and put the stalled vehicle with flat tyre(s) back on the road.
Let us digress for a moment.
Most of us routinely use vehicles, whether two-wheelers or four-wheelers for commuting, using personal transport and public transport, all the times. For running these vehicles, we routinely have to make rounds of the petrol pumps for getting fuel.
These petrol pumps dot the landscape and are almost ubiquitous. As per the guidelines issued by various oil companies, it is mandatory for the petrol pumps to provide free air to the vehicle owners. The petrol pumps should also have toilets and water dispensers for the weary travellers.
The provision of these facilities is the basic requirement for operating a petrol pump. It is not charity or alms the petrol pump owners offer to the vehicle owners. In case these facilities are not available at the petrol pump, its operation can be halted, under law, till the facilities are created or restored.
How many of us actually have used the toilets at the petrol pumps? How many petrol pumps actually have toilets that are user-friedly? How many petrol pumps have toilets located in inconvenient corners, far away?
Similarly, how many petrol pumps have functional air pumps? My personal experience of at least the last 10 years of living in the state is that petrol pump attendants in most part of Jammu & Kashmir are reluctant to fill air in the tyres. They are encouraged to do so by unscrupulous owners and routinely tell the vehicle owners that the air pump is ``temporarily'' out of order. And this temporary is almost a ``permanent'' solution.
It is the duty of the sales officers of the oil companies to check that the petrol pumps have adequate and proper air pumps and toilets. How many of them actually do so? Not many. Most of them are happy to chat up with the petrol pump owners who treat them nicely.
The hapless customers, each individual, is at the mercy of the careless attendants some of whom specialize in stealing fuel.
Coming back to the story of JCB driver Gagan, again. Would he have died if the attitude of the attendants at all petrol pumps was friendly, as is claimed by the oil companies? An emphatic no is the answer.
Gagan could have gone to the nearby petrol pump fitted with automatic air dispenser with correct gauze.
Air pumps are considered a bother, a freebie, and a favour, by most petrol pump owners. They do not maintain these facilities as should be done.
This is the reason why roadside vendors, who ply their trade dangerously, thrive.
Don't take it lightly.
Next time around when you go to a petrol pump and find there is no toilet or the air pump is not functioning, insist on asking for the complaint book and the phone number of the sales officer of the company.
Lodge a complaint and you will realize that you can make a difference.
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