NEW DELHI: Even as the Delhi Traffic Police is busy acquiring hi-tech equipment like laser and infrared sensor cameras, Delhi roads are becoming more deadly every day. According to the latest traffic police data, the city registered 169 fatal accidents till February 15 this year, up from 158 during the same period last year.
In last 15 days of 2017, more than 90 people died in road accidents, i.e., 6 deaths every day, which is almost 50 per cent higher than average of three-four deaths on Delhi roads daily.
The Sunday Standard tired to contact Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner, Traffic Police, but he didn’t revert to the calls and messages sent to him.
Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal is said to be worried about the rise in road accident deaths. “The matter was raised several times by LG Anil Baijal during meetings with police commissioner Amulya Patnaik. The LG is continuously monitoring traffic problems in Delhi and has asked the police chief to focus on this issues majorly,” a source in the LG office said.
Even the courts have expressed concerns over the rise in numbers of fatal accidents in Delhi. “It has been observed that incidents of fatal accidents are on the rise and this court cannot be oblivious of its social responsibility,” a city court had remarked in December.
According to a survey, 70 per cent of the fatal accidents were caused due to drunken driving. According to a latest report prepared by Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD) — an NGO working in this field for the past 16 years — with the help of Delhi Police and the National Crime Records Bureau, Delhi topped 53 Indian cities in fatal road mishaps, with 2,213 deaths recorded in 2016. Of these, drunken driving was responsible for at least 1,548 casualties. According to the data compiled by the traffic police department, the number of deaths in road mishaps crossed 1,565 in 2017.
