HYDERABAD: The increasing number of people losing their lives in road accidents has raised a big question on the safety of the roads in the state. The Road Safety Act which could potentially address the problem effectively is gathering dust but not attracting the government’s attention.
The very recent ghastly accident at Kondagattu that claimed 61 lives of bus passengers was blamed chiefly on a one-foot-high speed-breaker on a steep ghat road which has no S-shaped curve, for which the roads and buildings department was responsible, investigators have found out. The law woefully lacks an effective mechanism to ensure coordination among various agencies and stake-holders involved in the construction and maintenance of roads and highways.
Kerala and Karnataka have their own road safety laws and Gujarat has recently introduced a bill on such laws but Telangana, it is learnt, has been sitting on a draft proposal for a year now. The absence of well-laid rules is making it difficult for the stakeholders to coordinate round-the-clock in reducing road accidents, says T Krishna Prasad, director-general of Road Safety Authority. On an average, 7,200 fatal road accidents take place in a year in the state and half of these deaths occur on the state and national highways. Yet, there is no Road Safety Act in the state. “I am sure the government is serious about it but there are a lot of gaps that need to be closed,” he said.
A survey conducted on 22,000 km of state and national highways has, time and again, exposed the lack of ‘hazard’ signs at road corners and bends. The widespread black spots, where accidents occur, are rampant on various stretches.
There were 206 such black spots on national highways and 210 on state highways before the formation of new districts. As for the black spots, the RSA chief blames the roads & buildings department. “As a preventive measure, the R&B department should survey the spots and install more ‘hazard’ signs but that is not the case. A lot of stretches, be it on NH 163 or NH 44, a lot of major black spots have no such signs.”
Medical and health teams could play a role in curbing the accidental deaths by reaching the accident spots within the ‘golden hour’ but there is not enough deployment of ambulances on the highways. Hence the high death rate, Krishna Prasad explained.