Despite high road deaths, Punjab slow to switch on e-DAR

Chandigarh: Even as Punjab continues to face a troublingly high number of road deaths, the state was slow to fully implement the electronic detailed accident report (e-DAR) system, raising concerns about how effectively it is responding to its road safety challenge.The e-DAR platform, earlier known as I-RAD, was developed for reporting, management, and analysis of road accident data. It is designed to support evidence-based decision-making by helping the authorities identify accident-prone stretches, plan corrective measures, and assess the impact of interventions. The system also enables the online generation of accident reports, which is expected to speed up compensation claims for victims and their families.
The progress of e-DAR implementation was reviewed in detail at a recent meeting of the Road Safety Council. During the deliberations, it was observed that Punjab's overall performance in operationalising the system remained significantly below the desired level.Official data show that road accidents claimed 4,759 lives in Punjab in 2024, underlining the continuing severity of the crisis. The number of fatalities stood at 4,829 in 2023, 4,756 in 2022, 4,589 in 2021, 3,898 in 2020, and 4,525 in 2019. While Punjab remains in the middle rung nationally in terms of total accidents, the consistently high death toll remains a matter of serious concern.Overspeeding continues to be the leading cause of fatal accidents in the state. In 2024, as many as 3,140 deaths were attributed to overspeeding. The corresponding figures were 2,824 in 2023, 3,090 in 2022, 3,276 in 2021, and 1,805 in 2020.According to the minutes of the council meeting, information shared in Parliament by the minister for road transport and highways in the Lok Sabha was cited during the discussion. The data highlighted the number of e-DAR entries made by various states, with Punjab shown at the bottom with only about 1,800 entries. In comparison, Tamil Nadu recorded 1,97,097 e-DAR entries during the relevant period, indicating what was described in the meeting as "extremely poor" progress of e-DAR implementation in Punjab.The administrative secretary, transport, assured the council that necessary smartphones would be provided to investigating officers at police stations to facilitate e-DAR data entry. At the same time, it was emphasised that data entry should not be delayed or discontinued on the pretext of non-availability of smartphones, as the e-DAR application can be operated on any standard smartphone or tablet. It was also pointed out that police stations across the state are already equipped with 4 to 5 tablets, which can be utilised for making e-DAR entries without interruption.The meeting was also informed that the health department generated 7,900 road accident victim IDs. However, only 94 accident IDs were linked by the police department. Further, between January 1, 2025 and September 30, 2025, a total of 4,360 road accidents, both fatal and non-fatal, were reported in the state. Of these, the Police Department, through investigating officers of the police stations concerned, created only 1,915 accident IDs. From these, only 343 cases were forwarded to stakeholder departments, including road-owning agencies, the Transport Department, and the Health Department, for necessary action.After a detailed discussion, it was decided that the Director General of Police, Punjab, may be asked to resolve the issue at the earliest. The matter may also be taken up with the chief minister, Punjab, in view of the fact that the chief secretary held two meetings regarding the implementation of e-DAR in the state, yet full operationalisation was not achieved.