SC-Appointed Committee Expresses Displeasure Over Rising Road Accidents In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Road fatalities in Odisha are on a rising trend as against the decreasing national casualty rate. The Supreme Court-appointed committee on the issue has expressed deep displeasure over the poor implementation of road safety measures in the state.

According to sources, there have been numerous deaths due to road accidents. There have been a total 600 cases of motor-vehicle accidents in Bhubaneswar in 2017. Of these, around 185 have been fatal and 523 people received grievous to simple injury. This is alarming because most of those who lost their life were youngsters.

Apart from this, around 58,492 people were caught without a helmet, 4,791 without a seatbelt, 1,888 for drunk driving, 2,170 for over speeding 20,781 for driving on the wrong side and 7,655 for not having documents.

Thousands of people were fined last in year for violation of traffic rules, added the sources.

As per a report published in the national daily, The Hindu, There was a three per cent reduction in road-related fatalities in 2017 over 2016 in the whole country whereas Odisha recorded an increase of 327 deaths, which is 7.3 per cent, during the corresponding period.

Odisha has witnessed a similar trend by recording an increase of about 13.8 per cent in road-related fatalities during January-March 2018 over the corresponding period, the committee analysed.

As far as this year is concerned, Odisha reported 175 more deaths between January and June compared to the same period in the previous year.

 “It is disappointing that the state has not brought down the road accidents and fatalities. The increase in fatalities in Odisha brought down the national average of fatality reduction,” the committee informed the state government.

It also pointed out that Odisha has not prepared the State Road Safety Action Plan.

The committee also expressed its displeasure over poor enforcement of traffic rules in the state.

As per the report, the committee asked the state government to prepare an annual calendar for imparting training to highway engineers on road safety.