NEW DELHI, 16 Jan: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said faulty road construction should be made a non-bailable offence and road contractors and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and sent to prison.
Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said that India is number one in road accidents in the world.
“Faulty road construction should be a non-bailable offence and road contractors, concessionaires and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and sent to prison,” he said.
The ministry of road transport and highways aims to reduce road accident fatalities to half by 2030.
According to the minister, the ministry data of road accidents in 2023 shows five lakh mishaps in the country, resulting in 1,72,000 deaths.
“Of this, 66.4 percent, or 1,14,000, were in the 18-45 years age bracket, while 10,000 deaths were of children,” Gadkari said.
He pointed out that 55,000 deaths were reported due to absence of helmets and 30,000 were due to non-use of seat belts.
Gadkari said also that the highways ministry is spending Rs 40,000 crores to rectify black spots on highways.
Gadkari urged the industry and other stakeholders to partner with the government to set up driver training and fitness centres to address the acute shortage of drivers in the country.
Speaking at the event, Road Transport and Highways Secretary V Umashankar said that road safety initiatives should be converted into a mass movement.
“Each accident point has its own story to tell, each black spot has its own story. We need to sensitise people at the district level,” he said. (PTI)