The Central government on Monday informed Parliament that it has taken initiatives to reduce road casualties by half in the next five years after members raised serious concerns over the issue.
The Central government on Monday informed Parliament that it has taken initiatives to reduce road casualties by half in the next five years after members raised serious concerns over the issue. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said measures, including creating access-controlled expressways and mandatory AC cabins for truck drivers, will also be implemented as part of the safety measures.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Mr Gadkari said a number of safety measures are being taken up to minimise accidents while increasing the length of national highways from 96,000 kilometres to two lakh kilometres. He said in 2014, the number of people killed in road accidents was 1,39,671 and many of these were because of deficiencies in design. He said his ministry has identified 726 “blackspots” on national highways, which would be set right at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore.
With the objective of reducing the number of road accidents, The Centre has decided to make air-conditioning mandatory in the driver’s cabin of trucks, He said due to sweltering heat in truck cabins, drivers lose their mental equilibrium, which at times leads to mishaps. The minister also admitted that around 30 per cent driving licences in the country were bogus.
The minister also recalled that when a health check up of drivers in Maharashtra was carried out, 40 per cent of them were found to be suffering with cataract.
Every year around 1.5 lakh people die and three lakh people get injured in road accidents in the country. Around 5 lakh accidents take place every year and the government wants to curtail this number by at least 50 per cent.
On the inadequacy of driving schools in the country and the need to sensitise drivers, the minister said the Central government has started 19 centres, which will provide fitness certificate, pollution certificate. All these centres will be in rural parts. Video cameras will also be installed to capture the movements of erring drivers, he said.
Responding to another question, Mr Gadkari said work for four-laning of the Ramban-Banihal highway in Jammu and Kashmir has started in December last year.
To a separate question, the minister said the government is ready to develop the Durgarajapatnam port in Andhra Pradesh, provided the state government is willing to bear the cost of land acquisition.
