Deaths Due Road Accidents In Odisha Down By 11%: Minister

Bhubaneswar: There has been a decline in the number of road mishaps and resultant death rate in Odisha, said Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera in the Assembly on Thursday.

In a written reply to BJD legislator Amar Prasad Satpathy, the Minister said 15,386 people lost their lives in road accidents in the state from 2018 to 2020.

Giving the annual figures the Minister said while 5,315 people were killed in road accidents in 2018, it was 5,333 in 2019 and 4,738 in 2020. Moreover, there has been 11 per cent fall in the death rate in 2020 compared to 2019.

Among the measures taken to reduce road accidents and fatalities, Odisha government roped in Save Life India Foundation (SLF) to improve road safety and trauma care services.

The SLF will also assist the government in forming a technical support unit (TSU) for road safety at the office of State Transport Authority. The team will analyse the policy framework on road safety and recommend changes or modifications to ensure effective implementation.

Earlier this month, the Minister informed the House that there are 335 black spots on roads in Odisha of which the highest of 34 were in Cuttack district followed by 29 each in Khurda and Angul, 28 in Sundargarh, 26 in Ganjam, 24 in Nayagarh and 23 in Jajpur.