Road fatalities in Odisha went up by 8.8% between January-March 2021

BHUBANESWAR: Deaths due to road accidents in Odisha increased by 8.87% in the first three months of 2021 as compared to the corresponding period last year. Total number of accidents also went up by nearly 12 % in the first three months this year as against the same period last year.
According to state Crime Branch statistics, number of accidents went up from 2,881 in the first quarter of 2020 to 3,225 during the same period this year. While 1353 people were killed in those accidents last year, the casualty rose to 1473 between January and March, 2021.
“We expect a drop in accident deaths in the second quarter in view of the weekend shutdown and lockdown that came into force in April-May,” a Crime Branch officer said.
Analysis of the road accidents in the first quarters of 2020 and 2021 showed Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Khurda, Angul, Balasore, Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Koraput and Nabarangapur reported an increase in fatalities during this time.
Fatality rate in road accidents in the state came down by nearly 11 % in 2020 as compared to 2019. A total of 4,738 people were killed in road accidents in the state last year as against 5,333 in 2019. The deaths came down due to Covid induced lockdown and restriction on movement of vehicles.
State transport department said steps are being taken to reduce accident deaths. The department has asked district collectors to install CCT V cameras at accident-prone stretches and black spots on highways. The government said the collectors should implement the CCTV surveillance system out of the district mineral fund (DMF) or rope in companies for corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.