More fatal accidents on NHs: Report

RANCHI: With fatalities in road accidents reported across the state almost every day in the past few weeks, a look at the latest data available with the Union ministry of road transport and highways indicated that accidents on National Highways (NH) in the state have killed more people than on the state highways. Between 2014 and 2017, at least 4,466 lives were lost in NH accidents across

Jharkhand

, while the number of road accident-related fatalities in the same period across

state highways

is 3,510.


The number of total accidents in the state every year close to about 5,000 during the last four-year period and the highest number of deaths occurred in 2017 with 3,256 casualties out of a total of 3,034 fatal accidents in the state during the year.

In 2018, the number of deaths saw a marginal drop of 4.7% with the number reducing to 3,104 deaths. Even though the number of accidents between 2014 and 2017 have not increased, the total fatalities have spiked from 2,628 in 2014 to 3,256 in 2017. The number of deaths in accidents on National Highways have also seen a steep increase from 669 in 2014 to almost double in 2017 at 1,250.

According to a district transport department official, a total of 654 road accidents took place in which 300 people died in 2018 in Ranchi. Out of all the total number of victims, over 300 sustained grievous injures. In 2019, though the data is yet to be tabulated, but the official said on an average, anywhere between 45-50 accidents are being reported every month in which the casualty rate is 50%.

Outlining the reason for the high fatality, city-based road safety activist Rishab Anand said, “There are two factors that make accidents on the National Highway more fatal than the state highways. One is the common notion that NH is built for speeding and that results in fatal accidents. Second is the comparatively lower accessibility to medical facilities in the crucial hours following the accident on the highway which also ends up costing much more lives.”

The issue has already come as a concern for the state government with chief secretary D K Tiwari recently instructing the departments concerned for deployment of ambulances equipped with GPS and other connectivity tools with the nearest police station for every 50 km on national highways across the state.

“The goal is to cut down on the number of road accidents in the state in half by 2020. More highway patrolling and effective use of cameras to crack down on rash drivers is equally crucial,” Tiwari said, stressing on the extra effort made on the 146 “black” spots identified on the state and National Highways in the state.