NEW DELHI: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday that faulty road construction should be made a non-bailable offence and held road contractors and engineers responsible for accidents. Speaking at an event organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said that India tops the world in road accidents and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways desires to halve the number of fatalities on the roads by 2030.
The minister also mentioned that statistics in 2023 reveal five lakh road accidents in India and 1,72,000 people lost their lives. From the total count, 66.4% were within the age bracket of 18 to 45 years, and 10,000 children were victims of such cases. Gadkari also came forward and declared that 55,000 occurred because of helmets and 30,000 happened due to seat belt-less people.
In response to these issues, the highways minister pitches in with Rs 40,000 crore to rectify black spots identified on highways. Gadkari asked the industry to partner with the government in establishing driver training and fitness centers to address an acute shortage of drivers in the country. He also revealed plans for arming trucks with driver fatigue and sleep-detection devices to improve road safety.
Underlining the significance of education, Gadkari suggested involving children from classes 5 to 11 in school in road safety initiatives with a view to bring up a new generation of road safety ambassadors. The Road Transport and Highways Secretary V Umashankar reiterated the need for road safety initiatives to become a mass movement. He said the importance of local awareness and education could not be overstated.
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