India won’t achieve 50% reduction in road accidents by 2024, which is the government’s target: Gadkari
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday that due to many shortcomings on the part of the government as well as other people and drivers, India will not be able to achieve the government’s target of reducing road accidents by 50 per cent before 2024.
Due to many shortcomings on the part of the government and other people, who compromise with road safety standards, India will not be able to achieve the target of reducing road accidents by 50 per cent before 2024.
So said Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday. He pointed out that more people die in road accidents than in street fights, riots or terrorist attacks.
Stressing the need for improvement in road engineering, he said that people who prepare detailed project reports (DPR) are not doing their job properly. To save cost, they are compromising on road safety standards.
He stressed on the need for good road signage, lane discipline from drivers. “I think people’s support is the most important (for road safety),” he said.
Gadkari also mentioned the five important Es for ensuring road safety—Engineering (road), Emergency (action in case of an accident), Engineering (automobile), Education (about road safety) and Enforcement (rules).
India witness five lakh road accidents every year, which includes two lakh deaths, and this leads to a loss of 3 per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product), the minister said.
