BENGALURU: Union Minister of Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari suggested that states conduct an audit of accidents on highways, as 5 lakh mishaps are reported annually, and 3 lakh deaths causing 3 per cent loss to the country’s GDP is a matter of great concern.
He was speaking at the 41st meeting of the Transport Development Council in Bengaluru. Conducting the audits might be expensive, but authorities at the district level can make use of the expertise of faculty at technical institutions and also engage students on a stipend basis to collect data, which is significant to take measures and save lives.
Meanwhile, he said he will hold a meeting of ministers and officials from all states in New Delhi in 15 days’ time, to bring in a policy to check pollution, especially noise pollution which is rampant in cities, with unnecessary honking by motorists.
“One crore people were engaged in an inhuman profession of ferrying people on their manual cycle rickshaws for years. Of them, 70 lakh have switched to mechanised e-rickshaws and e-carts. It’s the greatest achievement in my life,” Gadkari said.