Centre may make mixing silicon with rubber mandatory for manufacturing tyres: Gadkari

NEW DELHI: The government is considering to make it mandatory for tyre manufacturers to mix silicon with rubber to improve quality and use of nitrogen to reduce cases of tyre-bursts, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari told Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Replying to a question in the Upper House on the fatal road accident on Yamuna Expressway that claimed 29 lives, Gadkari said the Uttar Pradesh government has set up a committee to look into reasons behind the accident. He said 133 people died on this cement concrete expressway in 2016, 146 in 2017 and 111 in 2018.
Gadkari’s comments come amid increasing cases of tyre-bursts on concrete roads. These occur mainly due to the tyre running at lower pressure but at high speed. Use of nitrogen is helpful as the gas stays in the tyre longer than regular air. So, the chance of the tyre losing pressure is lower when it’s filled with nitrogen. It also keeps the tyre cooler and there is less stress.
The minister also appealed to the opposition parties to help pass the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill when they asked him why the government was not stepping up enforcement of traffic rules. “I have been seeking your help for passage of the bill for the past one year saying how people are dying on our roads... This issue has nothing do with politics. Please support the bill,” he said.
Piyush Tewari, founder of Savelife Foundation said, “There’s an urgent need to improve enforcement on our highways. In 2017, over 9000 people have lost their lives in preventable bus crashes. The other urgent action required is on engineering issues. Most of our highways lack crash barriers and other infrastructure measures that can prevent a crash from becoming fatal.”