From C K Nayak
New Delhi: More people are killed in India on road accidents than even terrorist strikes including in Meghalaya which has one of the highest death rates on highways, latest official figures said.
The Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari who launched the report “Road Accidents in India 2015″ in New Delhi on Thursday said that he is saddened by sheer number of deaths on roads which is higher than even terrorist attacks. Road accidents have emerged as a major public health problem globally, and more so in India where almost five lakh accidents occurred last year, killing 1, 46000 people and leaving thrice the number injured, the ministry’s report said.
In case of Meghalaya there were 606 accidents in 2015 in which there were 183 deaths and 319 injured many of them seriously. The causalities are rising since last two years, the report said.
For obvious reasons there were more accidents, deaths and injuries in urban areas compared to rural areas. With one of the highest motorization growth rate in the world, accompanied by rapid expansion in road network and urbanization over the years, our country is faced with serious impacts on road safety levels, the union minister said. According to the report compiled by the Transport Research Wing, the total number of road accidents increased by 2.5 per cent from 4,89,400 in 2014 to 5,01,423 in 2015. The total number of persons killed in road accidents increased by 4.6 per cent from 1,39,671 in 2014 to 1,46,133 in 2015.
The analysis of road accident data 2015 reveals that about 1,374 accidents and 400 deaths take place every day on Indian roads which further translates into 57 accidents and loss of 17 lives on an average every hour in our country. About 54.1 per cent of all persons killed in road accidents were in the 15 -34 years age group during the year 2015.
More than half of the people killed in more than 500,000 road accidents last year were aged 15-34. Road accidents are common in India, often due to poor driving or badly maintained roads and vehicles.
Experts blame poorly designed roads. Thirteen top states namely Tamil Nadu (69,059), Maharashtra (63,805), Madhya Pradesh (54,947), Karnataka (44,011), Kerala (39,014), Uttar Pradesh (32,385), Andhra Pradesh (24,258), Rajasthan (24,072), Gujarat (23,183), Telengana (21,252), Chattisgarh (14,446),West Bengal (13,208) and Haryana (11,174) together accounted for 86.7 per cent of all road accidents in the country. Around 83.6 per cent of all road accidents fatalities also occurred in the top thirteen states. Meghalaya obviously does not figure among the thirteen because of the smaller size of the area, population and length of roads. Because of all these reasons the number of vehicles is also comparatively low in the hill state, the analysis said.
Drivers’ fault has been revealed as the single most responsible factor for road accidents, accounted for 77.1 per cent of total road accidents during 2015 as against 78.8 per cent during 2014. Speaking on the occasion the Minister reiterated India’s resolve and commitment as a signatory to the Brasilia
Declaration, to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities by 50 per cent by 2020. Gadkari dwelt at length on the various measures being taken in this direction, including steps like rectifying black spots, incorporating engineering solutions at the design stage, safety standards for automobiles, proper trauma care and generating public awareness. He said there is an “urgent need” to improve road infrastructure as the numbers showed road accidents were one of the single biggest causes of death in India.