BHUBANESWAR: The number of black spots prone to road accidents on National Highways of the State has been reduced to 12.
Responding to several queries from Sundargarh MP Jual Oram, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha that the Ministry has identified 789 black spots (accident-prone places) in National Highways and Expressways across the country and 12 of them are in Odisha.He said four out of 12 black spots have been rectified.
As per information received from the States, as many as 54,046 persons were killed in 2018.
Gadkari said the Government has launched a mobile app ‘Sukhad Yatra 1033’ for Highway users to report potholes and other safety hazard on the NH. Road safety audits are being carried out in all States for development of the highways.
The Ministry has constituted group of ministers of State transport departments to examine best practices of transport and suggest issues to improve road safety.
The Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament basing on the recommendation of the group of ministers, he added.
The Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issues of road safety based on 4 Es - Education, Engineering (both on roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency care.
Besides, road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.
In 2016, the State Government had identified 209 black spots on NH.