1.3K ACCIDENT PRONE ZONES TO BE ELIMINATED BY 2020: GOVT

MUMBAI: The government has started taking corrective steps to eliminate 1,325 ‘black spots’ across the state where vehicular accidents most commonly occur. The state has taken short-term measures at 825 spots and longterm measures have been implemented at 69 spots. However, the remaining 431 accident-prone sites are still awaiting corrective action.

The government labels an accident-prone area a ‘black spot’ if five or more deadly accidents have taken place there in the past five years.

Acting on directions of a committee appointed by the Supreme Court, the state has identified 1,324 spots in different parts of Maharashtra. Of these, 51 were located in Mumbai. The highest number — 628 black spots — were identified on national highways, followed by 374 on other district roads, 315 on state highways and seven on express highways.

As part of the short-term measures, the public works department (PWD) has taken steps to improve road surface, replace rumblers with speed breakers, erect warning signs and use reflective tape at sites.

A senior officer of the PWD said that they are working to remove the 431 remaining black spots. “Our target is to eliminate all 1,325 black spots by March 2020,” said the official, requesting anonymity.

The authorities have taken long-term corrective measures at 36 and 33 black spots on national and state highways, respectively. These include building flyovers, installing signals and providing underpasses.

Along with the PWD, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) have been involved in the elimination of black spots.

“District-level committees have also been formed to keep track of works undertaken for removal of black spots. These committees have the local police, regional transport office [RTO], PWD, and other departments on board,” said an RTO official.

In 2018, Maharashtra witnessed 4% more road accidents as compared to the previous year. The number of deaths related to these types of accidents in the state increased to 13,059 from 12,511 in 2017.

PWD HAS TAKEN STEPS TO IMPROVE ROAD SURFACE, REPLACE RUMBLERS AND ERECT WARNING SIGNS AT ACCIDENT-PRONE SITES