Government Declares Rs 11,000 Crore For Safer Roads

A recent report from a Government study shows the magnitude of fatalities, courtesy rising number of road accidents. The report stated that as many as five lakh accidents took place in 2015 in the country and claimed the lives of 1.46 lakh people. This equals to 16 deaths per hour! The Government will now take measures to secure more than 700 accident-prone zones within the country and has also asked for support from daily commuters in making the roads safer. 

Nitin Gadkari union minister in a plea for safer roads said , "Please do not drink and drive. Obey traffic rules. The Government alone cannot ensure safety on roads, people should also do their bit."

According to the study, around 11 per cent of the road accidents were hit and run cases. 77,116 accidents were caused by overloading and resulted in around 25,000 deaths. Moreover, 28.4 per cent accidents occurred on national highways, 24 per cent on state roads, while the rest were  on city roads. This data is from 2015 and if the rumours are to be believed, then the figures would have drastically risen by now.

The Government has announced a budget of Rs 11,000 crore to fortify the roads and eradicate the black spots present across various roads through the country. Gadkari also stated, "726 black spots have been identified and work is on to rectify these. Rs 11,000 crore will be spent for this work." He further explained that each state has an allotted 10 per cent Central Road Fund (CRF) which will be used to identify more black spots across states.

A committee of ministers has also been set up to suggest better ideas to cope with the compromised road safety. The Government is also working in this direction with independent organisations to raise awareness among citizens.