New Delhi: More than 4 lakh people have died in road accidents in the country from 2018 to 2020. The statistics were presented in the Rajya Sabha by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday. While 131714 persons died in road accidents in 2020, 151113 died in 2019 and 151417 lost their lives in 2018.
Gadkari, in a written response, further stated that his ministry has formulated a multi-pronged approach to address the issue of road safety, like the engineering of both roads and vehicles, enforcement, and emergency care. The steps include increasing public awareness on road safety, high priority to the identification of "black spots" of accident-prone spots, and improvement of the safety standard for automobiles.
"To effective public awareness about road safety, Ministry undertakes various publicity measures and awareness campaigns on road safety through social media, electronic media and print media," stated Gadkari.
During the Question Hour, Gadkari also said that the Union Government will soon implement a Rs.7500 crore scheme with help from the World Bank to address the issue of road accidents and reduce the number of accident-prone zones in the country. He also said that 1.5 lakh people die every year in India in road accidents which is the highest in the world.
"The government is very sensitive about this issue. We will soon implement a Rs 7,500-crore plan with the support of the World Bank across the country. We have urged the World Bank to implement this programme across the country," said Gadkari.
"We will soon get cabinet approval on this scheme, which will help improve upon accident-prone and black spots on national highways and state roads," he added.
