Mohali’s killer roads claimed 312 lives in 2024

Around half of the fatalities (150) have come from Zirakpur, Lalru and Dera Bassi, which leave much to be desired in terms of road infrastructure, whereas areas falling under Mohali municipal corporation (MC), where the road conditions are comparatively better, reported less than 30 fatalities in 2024

With 312 lives snuffed out on Mohali roads in 2024, the authorities seem to have done precious little to ensure road users’ safety as the figure has barely come down from 2023 when the figure stood at 320.

State road safety adviser Navdeep Asija attributed the high fatality rate to poor infrastructure development, including lack of pedestrian crossings and cycle tracks. (HT Photo)

Around half of the fatalities (150) have come from Zirakpur, Lalru and Dera Bassi, which leave much to be desired in terms of road infrastructure, whereas areas falling under Mohali municipal corporation (MC), where the road conditions are comparatively better, reported less than 30 fatalities in 2024. The maximum, 37, deaths were reported in March followed by 33 in October and 30 in December, as per the figures released by the traffic police.

State road safety adviser Navdeep Asija attributed the high fatality rate to poor infrastructure development, including lack of pedestrian crossings and cycle tracks. He added that areas such as Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru suffer more because they bear the burden of floating traffic – these areas are gateways to Himachal from neighbouring states.

“Due to this, local commuters get stuck in long queues under the flyover and resort to taking wrong cuts, risking their lives. Flyovers are not the solution, they only add to the problem. Adding to the trouble is the fact that the black spots in Mohali have doubled in the last five years. Black spots have been defined by the Ministry of road transport and highways as a 500-metre stretch where either five road crashes, involving fatalities or grievous injuries, occurred in the last three years, or where 10 fatalities took place within the same period. The district had 49 black spots in 2019 which has now risen to 90. To keep a check on speeding, Mohali police will be installing 405 high-tech CCTV cameras across the district, with focus on 20 vulnerable intersections. “We will start the e-challans through CCTVs before January 26,” said AS Rai, additional director general of police (traffic and road safety), Punjab, said.

Deputy commissioner Aashika Jain said, “We are working on speed limits for Mohali roads, which may vary from location to location. We will install the speed limit boards and soon release the notification soon following which traffic violators will get speeding challans,” said the DC.