India can't reduce 50% road accidents by 2024 due to shortcomings: Nitin Gadkari

India will not be able to achieve the target of reducing road accidents by 50 per cent by 2024, said Nitin Gadkari, the union minister for road transport and highways. He said that achieving the target is not possible due to many shortcomings on the part of the government and other stakeholders, who compromise with road safety standards. The minister also said that more people die across India due to road accidents than in street fights, riots or terrorist attacks, reports PTI.

India is one of the front-row countries when it comes to road accidents and fatalities due to that. Over the last few years, the government has been actively taking various measures to bring down the road accidents across the country by improving road conditions, tightening the safety norms for auto manufacturers and by introducing stringent traffic rules. However, the number of road accidents and fatality rates due to that are still at an alarming rate. The government took a target of reducing road accidents by 50 per cent before 2024. However, Nitin Gadkari believes that is not possible due to many shortcomings.

The minister blamed the shortcomings of the government. Also, he blamed other stakeholders for not doing their best to reduce road accidents. "We had said that we will reduce the number of road accidents by 50 per cent before 2024. But we could not do (reduce) much. We could not do it because we have certain shortcomings, and there are other people who are not doing their bit," Gadkari said.

He stressed the need for improvement in road engineering to curb the number of road accidents across India. “People who prepare Detailed Project Report (DPR) are not doing their job properly. Their mindset is that there should be saving (reduce) on the cost," said the minister. He further noted that the concerned people compromise with road safety standards while preparing DPR to reduce the cost of construction and deliberately don't provide for the construction of flyovers and under bridges required in a road project.

Gadkari said that India witnesses five lakh road accidents every year, which result in two lakh deaths. Also, these accidents cause critical injuries like broken legs and arms for three lakh people. The minister also claimed that every year, three per cent of the country's GDP is lost in these road accidents.