Government's road safety plan falls short, Nitin Gadkari reveals shortcomings
What's the story
India will not be able to achieve the target of reducing road accidents by 50% by 2024, as per Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India.
This is primarily due to many shortcomings on the part of the government as well as people who compromise with road safety standards.
Here's a look at all the shortcomings pointed out by Gadkari.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Globally, India is unfortunately one of the front runners in terms of road accidents and associated fatalities.
According to Gadkari, more people die in road accidents than in street fights, riots, or terrorist attacks.
He also highlighted that nearly 3% of the country's GDP is lost every year in road accidents and costs related to it.
Issue
There is lack of coordination between different government departments
While the Indian government had set an ambitious target to reduce road accidents by 50% by 2024, the general lack of communication and coordination between different departments has resulted in making the objective unachievable.
Gadkari highlighted five important factors for overall improvement: engineering of roads, emergency action taken during accidents, engineering of vehicles, education about road safety, and enforcement of rules.
Awareness
Lack of awareness among road users
Road safety continues to be a major developmental issue, a public health concern, and a leading cause of death and injury in India.
The lack of awareness of basic road etiquette is the primary reason for road accidents.
Gadkari believes that people's support is the most important for road safety and stressed that road users should be educated about dos and don'ts.
Enforcement
Poor enforcement of traffic rules is a major concern
The lackluster attitude when it comes to the enforcement of traffic rules is another major hurdle for the Indian government.
Lane discipline alone can help in reducing the number of accidents by half, according to Gadkari.
He said that stricter enforcement of traffic rules, along with creating awareness about road safety will vastly improve the situation in the country.
Infrastructure
Inadequate infrastructure hinders the overall development
As per Gadkari, people who prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPR) are not doing their job properly.
They compromise with road safety standards by reducing the cost of construction and by deliberately not providing for the construction of flyovers and under bridges required in a road or infrastructure project.
There is also a need to improve civil engineering, the union minister further added.