City scripted a 15-year chapter of road accidents!

Now what everybody racks his/her brains is: will the BJP-led Government in the State allow things to stay as it is or do something tangible to reverse the situation?

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, May 27: For Guwahati city the 15-year-long Congress rule in the State since 2001 can be called a chapter of road accidents – as long as 15 years.

In just four months since January this year (up to April) as many as 103 people lost their lives in as many as 99 fatal accidents. This statistics from none other than the Traffic Police in the city will certainly help one guess the enormity of the situation in the State capital in so far as traffic accident is concerned.

According to sources in the traffic police in the city, there were 30 fatal accidents leading to the killing of as many persons in January this year. This essentially means that in January this year, according to police records, a person was killed every day in accident in the city. This is not all. There were 66 non-fatal accidents as well in January this year in the city, leading to injury to 60 people.

As many as 24 people were killed in 23 fatal road accidents in February this year in the city. The month registered as many as 68 non-fatal accidents, leading to injury to 69 people. Twenty-two people lost their lives in 21 road accidents in March this year when as many as 68 people sustained injuries in 81 non-fatal accidents. The number of people killed in April this year was 27 in as many as 25 fatal accidents. The month also witnessed 63 non-fatal road accidents leading to injuries to as many as 91 people.

Excluding the road accidents that took place in the city in 2016, as many as 3,349 people lost their lives in the city in 3,121 fatal road accidents in the past 15 years from 2001-2015. As many as 10,708 people were also injured during the past 15 years in the city in 8,139 non-fatal accidents.

What is worth mentioning here is the year-wise trend in the number of accidents and the number of deaths in the city since the year 2001. As many as 136 people were killed in 130 fatal accidents in 2001. The year 2002 witnessed 121 fatal accidents leading to the killing of 129 people. While 2003 witnessed 140 accidents leading to the killing of 145 people, 2004 witnessed 166 accidents leading to the killing of 182 people, 2005 witnessed 193 accidents killing 202 people, 2006 witnessed 175 accidents killing 189 people, 2007 witnessed 211 accidents killing 219 people, 2008 witnessed 205 accidents killing 213 people, 2009 witnessed 201 accidents killing 228 people, 2010 witnessed 244 accidents killing 271 people, 2011 witnessed 279 accidents killing 296 people, 2012 witnessed 234 accidents killing 246 people, 2013 saw 266 accidents killing 286 people, 2014 saw 287 accidents killing 304 people and 2015 saw 269 accidents killing 303 people.   

This statistics is as given by the City Traffic Police. There might be road accidents that had not been reported to the police. Thus, there is every likelihood of the number of accidents during the past 15 years becoming even more.

One may say that the rising trend in the number of accidents and the number of lives lost in the city are due to the rising number of vehicles in the city. Even though one cannot deny it totally, what is crystal clear is that the City’s traffic police have failed to cope up with the changing number of vehicles and vehicular accidents in the city.

Now what everybody racks his/her brains is: will the BJP-led Government in the State allow things to stay as it is or do something tangible to reverse the situation?