DRIVING GETS SMOOTHER
After Improvements Suggested By PWD Panel On Accident-Prone Roads, Number Of Fatalities Drop, Says Government ……..Prafulla Marpakwar | TNN
Mumbai: Increased awareness by drivers, strict enforcement of traffic rules and a comprehensive multi-crore action plan to improve accident-prone spots on roads across the state is resulting in a drop in fatalities, according to government sources.
“Most vehicle users are now following a new regime—start early, drive cautiously and reach safely. As a result, Maharashtra is witnessing fewer road accidents,’’ Public Works Department (PWD) secretary D B Deshpande told TOI.
Deputy chief minister R R Patil, who also holds the state’s home portfolio, said that due to increased vigilance on national and state highways and stricter implementation of traffic rules there has been an unexpected drop in the number of fatal accidents in the state.
Though a large number of passengers—23—died on November 1 in a road accident in Raigad district, a co-ordinated plan to increase safety on roads over the past two years is bearing fruit. As per official records, there has been a fall in the number of accidents during the past two years.
In 2007, 11,935 people were killed and 25,017 were seriously injured in accidents across the state, including those on national highways, state highways and roads in cities. But in the current year, upto August 31, 2008, only 6,971 people have lost their lives and 14,841 have been seriously injured.
In 2007, there were 76,573 total accidents, including those that caused fatalities, serious injuries, minor injuries and no injuries, while in 2008 to date there have been 44,138 accidents.
According to Deshpande, the PWD has set up a high-level committee headed by a joint secretary. The main task of the committee is to visit accident spots, study the panchnama and causes of the accident and submit a report on the measures needed to avoid accidents at the same spot again.
As part of the stringent exercise, PWD investigators thoroughly examined 1,70,800 km of national and state highways and identified 7,200 accident-prone spots.
“We studied all these spots and took correctional measures to improve 5,400 of them. So far, we have spent Rs 137 crore to improve these spots. Two years down the line the results are visible,’’ Deshpande said.
He said that road surfaces have been improved and areas widened among other measures.
“We have improved sharp curves by making them less dangerous. At certain turns we found there were blind spots, so we improved the field of vision in those places,’’ Deshpande added.
The second reason for the reduction in the number of accidents is the massive awareness that has been created among vehicle owners, according to officials.
“It’s a different situation as compared to earlier on national and state highways. People drive vehicles very carefully,’’ Deshpande added.
Thirdly, Deshpande claimed that a lot of investment has been made to improve the quality of state and national highways.
Earlier, Maharashtra had twolane highways. However, now most of the two-lane highways across the state have been replaced by four-lane ones. As a result, there have been very few instances of head-on collisions, which lead to serious injuries. “Earlier, there were more fatalities across Maharashtra owing to head-on collisions,’’ Deshpande said.