BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has urged the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to provide funds to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for the rectification of black spots on national highways that are responsible for 27 per cent of road accidents and 30 per cent fatalities in the state.
In a letter to the Union secretary of MoRTH Anurag Jain, state principal secretary of Commerce and Transport Usha Padhee requested to place special funds with the regional office of NHAI, Odisha for rectification of black spots. Of the 1.68 lakh deaths in road accidents in the country in 2022, as many as 5,467 deaths occurred in the state and thousands of others suffered debilitating injuries.
As per data, out of 11,663 road accidents reported in 2022, a total of 3,203 accidents occurred on national highways (NHs) under the jurisdiction of NHAI. Although the length of roads under the NHAI in Odisha is about one per cent of the total road network, 29.5 per cent of the total fatalities occurred on these NHs. The severity of accidents is also very high (50.14 per cent) on NHs under the NHAI, which are highly vulnerable.
Padhee said, the identification and rectification of black spots is the most important intervention, which can reduce road accidents and fatalities remarkably. As per the protocol notified by the MoRT&H, though the black spots are being identified and notified by the NHAI regional office, the principal secretary pointed out that many black spots have been repeated over the years despite rectification measures.
“It appears, that the traffic calming measures taken by the NHAI are inadequate to reduce accidents and fatalities. The black spots need to be rectified permanently for which the NHAI be provided with special funds as per provisions,” she wrote in her letter to the Union MoRTH secretary.