Nitin Gadkari ,Minister of Road Transport & Highways
Gadkari said India witnessed 1,80,000 deaths due to road accidents in 2023.with road safety a top priority, the government aims to reduce number of road accidents by 50 per cent by 2030
New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday blamed faulty detailed project reports (DPRs) and defective road designs prepared by civil engineers and consultants for increasing road accidents and fatalities in the country.
Addressing Global Road Infratech Summit & Expo (GRIS), Gadkari highlighted the urgent need for improving road safety measures.
“Most of the road accidents happen in the country due to small civil mistakes, faulty DPRs and nobody is held accountable,” Gadkari, who is known for his frank views, said.
The minister also called upon the road construction industry to develop strategies to enhance road safety by adopting newer technologies and sustainable recyclable construction materials.
“Even small things like road signages and marking systems are very poor in India. We need to learn from countries like Spain, Austria and Switzerland,” the road transport and highways minister added.
Gadkari pointed out that worst quality DPRs are made in India, holding engineers largely responsible for the rise in number of road accidents due to poor planning and design.
“This gives me a feeling that basically the engineers are responsible for increasing road accidents. So, the main problem is road engineering and defective planning, and defective DPRs,” he said.
Gadkari said India witnessed 1,80,000 deaths due to road accidents in 2023.
According to him, with road safety a top priority, the government aims to reduce number of road accidents by 50 per cent by 2030.
Also speaking at the event, International Road Federation (IRF) president emeritus K K Kapila said by prioritizing safety in every aspect of road design, construction, and management, this summit seeks to move towards a future where road accidents become a rarity, ultimately aiming for zero fatalities.
A total of 13,795 black spots have been identified on the National Highways (NHs), out of which short-term rectification measures have been completed on 9,525 such spots and permanent rectification has been completed on 4,777 black spots, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said certain locations on NHs are identified as black spots based on the occurrence of a certain number of accidents involving fatalities and grievous injuries.
“Government has taken steps for immediate short-term measures on such black spots like road markings, signages, crash barriers, road studs, delineators, closure of unauthorized median openings, traffic calming measures, etc. Long-term measures like improvement of road geometrics, junction improvements, spot widening of carriageway, construction of underpasses/overpasses, etc,” Gadkari said.