NHAI to fix deadly dark spots on Punjab highway
DEATH TRAPS 92 killer spots exist on 175-km stretch of NH-44 in state, as per a report prepared by the government
CHANDIGARH: The report on ‘Road Safety Analysis and Identification of Accident Black Spots’ prepared under Tandarust Punjab Mission has prompted the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to initiate immediate remedial measures on 20 highly accident-prone spots in the state.
KS Pannu, director, Tandarust Punjab Mission, said the report was jointly prepared by the Project Punjab Vision Zero Accident team and the traffic wing of Punjab Police.
Pannu said: “According to Union ministry of road transport and highways, road accident black spot on the national highways is a road stretch of about 500m in length in which either five road accidents (involving fatalities/grievous injuries) took place during last three calendar years or 10 fatalities took place during last three calendar years.”
He also said that the detailed road accident analysis revealed that a total of 92 accidental black spots existed on the 175km-long stretch of NH-44 falling in Punjab.
“Based upon the last three years (2016-2018) road accidental cases reported, a total 880 people lost their lives, 525 got seriously injured, and 183 got minor injuries in 1,077 cases registered on the entire stretch of the NH-44 within the state of Punjab,” Pannu said.
He added that out of total 880 road accidental deaths, 644 accidental deaths (73%) were
The report was jointly prepared by the Project Punjab Vision Zero
Accident team and police. KS PANNU, director, Tandarust Punjab Mission
reported on these 92 accidental black spots falling on NH-44.
This analysis reveals that about 40km of the road stretch out of entire 175km length of NH-44 has some serious geometric design errors and requires immediate geometric improvement, especially in the areas where NH-44 crosses urban limits,” said Pannu.
As per data, the total cost of social-economic loss occurred in Punjab due to various road accidents
on NH-44 amounts to Rs 933 crore for the past three years, i.e.,
Rs 85 lakh per day.
“This called for immediate flagging of the issue to the NHAI.
Based on the state feedback, NHAI prioritised the black spots according to the number of fatalities reported and has commenced the remedial work on the identified spots by inviting the tenders for the rectification work,” Pannu said.
Adding that the elimination or minimisation of black spots is targeted under Tandarust Punjab Mission, Pannu said: “We will seriously, systematically and continuously carry out the work of identifying and rectifying the road accident black spots and will also monitor the effectiveness of remedial measures for the black spots.”