Govt bid to curb deaths in accidents at road junctions

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Monday asked agencies responsible for the upkeep of roads here to investigate the causes of the rise in fatal accidents at junctions and submit their reports within two months.
Transport department secretary Madhu Sudan Padhi on Monday expressed grave concern over the rise in fatal accidents at the junctions (where feeder roads merge with state and national highways) despite traffic calming measures being put in place by the agencies maintaining roads, including the state works department and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Odisha has 8,102 junctions and traffic calming measures have been ensured at all those points to prevent accidents. But data from the state crime branch showed that at least 2,594 accidents occurred at the junctions in 2020, causing 1,164 deaths.
“The fatalities at the junctions were about 25% of the total accident deaths in the state in 2020. This is a matter of concern. A total of 4,738 accidents were reported in the state last year. We have written to the works department secretary and the NHAI’s chief general manager in Odisha to revisit the junctions and find out the reasons for the recurrence of accidents despite traffic calming measures,” Padhi said.
Road accident related deaths in the state have increased by nearly 21% from 3,931 in 2014 to 4,738 in 2020, according to the crime branch data.