Page 36 - JAN2020E2

Youngsters involved Road accidents in the

in 70% of road country increase by
0.46 per cent during 2018
with the year seeing
accidents 4,67,044 road mishaps,

writes shveta mishra

hile data from the Min- significantly from about 11.7 km dur- length of 566 km have been awarded
istry of Road Trans- ing 2013-14 to about 30 km now. During this Financial Year for a concession
port and Highways the current year, projects for 3211 km fee of 5,011 crores against the reserve
points to the gory fact length have been awarded and 5958 price of 4,998.71 crore. The Ministry
W of youth to be a major km length has been constructed till No- proposes to develop additional 60,000
victim in fatal accidents, the data from vember 2019. kms of National Highways in the next
the World Health Organization reveals During the year the Ministry and its five years, of which 2500 km are Ex-
that while India has just one per cent associated organizations have carried press Ways/Access Controlled High-
of the world’s vehicles but the country forward the good work of the previous ways, 9000 kms Economic Corridors,
accounts massive for six per cent of the years, expanding the national highways 2000 kms for Coastal and Port Connec-
world’s road traffic accidents. network in the country, taking various tivity Highways and 2000 kms Border
The Ministry of Road Transport and steps to make these highways safe for Road/ Strategic Highways. The Ministry
Highways has released its annual pub- the commuters and making best ef- also intends to improve connectivity
lication on ‘Road Accidents in India, forts to minimize adverse impact on for 100 tourist destinations and con-
2018’. It provides data on accident re- the environment. As a result, National struct Bypasses for 45 towns/cities dur-
lated deaths and injuries, calendar yea- Highways (NHs) length has increased ing this period.
wise, based on information supplied from 91,287 km in April, 2014 to about Expenditure of Ministry increased
by the Police Department of States 1,32,500 km. as on 31.12.2019. from 33,745 crore in 2013-14 to
and UTs. Under Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) 1,37,354 crore in 2018-19. During the
As per the Report, Road accidents mode, a bundle of 9 projects with total current year an expenditure of 85,275
in the country have increased by 0.46
per cent during 2018 with the year see-
ing 4,67,044 road accidents as against
4,64,910 in 2017. The fatalities during
the same period have also risen by
about 2.37 per cent and 1,51,471 persons
were killed in 2018 as against 1,47,913 in
2017.
The Year End Review 2019- Ministry
of Road Transport & Highways released
at the end of the year 2019 claims that
this was a year for consolidating the
gains that accrued from major policy
decisions taken in the previous five
years, a time for monitoring of ongo-
ing projects, tackling road blocks and
adding to the already impressive pace
of work achieved during the past years.
During 2018-19, projects in about
5,494 km length were awarded and
completion was achieved in about
10,855 km length of roads. The rate of
development of roads has increased