18 spots in Delhi hotbeds for fatal crashes, says govt report | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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18 spots in Delhi hotbeds for fatal crashes, says govt report

Jan 23, 2023 05:59 AM IST

The report analysed crash data over a three-year period to arrive at a deeper understanding of the risks on the capital’s road network and their relationship with fatalities and serious injuries.

There are 18 hot spots on Delhi’s roads, notorious for the large number of fatalities due to traffic accidents, which require safety interventions to reduce the casualty count in the Capital, according to a new report by the Delhi government.

Delhi typically has the most number of traffic accident deaths among Indian cities. (File)
Delhi typically has the most number of traffic accident deaths among Indian cities. (File)

The 18 crash hot spots that saw more than 10 deaths in the three years between 2019 and 2021 include Mukarba Chowk (19 deaths), Majnu Ka Tila-Outer Ring Road Stretch (16), near Signature Bridge (16), Azadpur Chowk (15), Punjabi Bagh Chowk (12), Nirankari Chowk (12), Burari Chowk (12), Seelampur Chowk (12 ), Ghazipur roundabout (10 ) and Shivaji Park Metro Station (10), among others, said the report titled “Delhi Road Safety Report: Data to Action”.

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The report analysed crash data over a three-year period to arrive at a deeper understanding of the risks on the capital’s road network and their relationship with fatalities and serious injuries. It will help plan interventions to make the roads safer, officials said.

Delhi typically has the most number of traffic accident deaths among Indian cities, making the capital’s roads the deadliest in the country. In 2021, the number of fatalities due to road accidents in Delhi totalled 1,239, an increase from 1,196 fatalities in the previous year, according to Delhi Crash Report 2021 prepared by the city’s traffic police. In the same year, pedestrian fatalities constituted a share more than 40% of the total.

There were eight cyclists’ deaths on Rohtak Road, and six each on Mathura Road and Ring Road between 2019-21, the new road safety report said.

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It also identified 10 hot spots that proved deadly for pedestrians, which include Baba Kharak Singh Marg (10 deaths), GT Karnal Road (84), Netaji Subhash Marg (11), and GT Road from Dilshad Garden Metro station to ISBT Kashmere Gate (30), among others.

The Outer Ring Road recorded 121 pedestrian deaths in 2019-21, with three deaths per km. It also saw 139 motorcyclist deaths in the three-year period, with three deaths per kilometre, said the report.

The report has been prepared by the transport department in collaboration with the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre at the Indian institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and Vital Strategies, a public health organisation, with support from Delhi Traffic Police and the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety.

“The deaths in 2019, 2020, and 2021 were mapped and death rate was calculated using the population of each district,” the report said. “District North (574) and District Central (547) recorded the highest number of deaths, while District New Delhi reported the highest death rate of 14.”

Identifying high-risk spots is the first step in planning road safety interventions and make streets safer for all users, officials said.

“The transport department of the government of NCT (national capital territory) of Delhi is committed towards leading by example and working with global road safety experts and various government agencies in cohesion to build a city where no lives are lost on road,” said Ashish Kundra, principal secretary, transport.

The transport department has taken up multiple initiatives under the road safety framework to improve safety at junctions and stretches prone to accidents, an official said.

“The transport department partners are currently working on 15 crash spot locations to reduce crashes. The junctions are proposed to be redesigned to ensure they are pedestrian-friendly,” he said, seeking anonymity.

“Some of the junction redesigns are being tested using interim transformation materials such as temporary road markings, bollards, traffic cones, and paint to demonstrate the feasibility of design strategies,” he added.

The new report is an important step towards achieving the global target of reducing road crash death by 50% by 2030, said Geetam Tiwari, professor and head of the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre at IIT Delhi.

“Road crash deaths have been reducing in NCT of Delhi since 2012. However, it continues to be high for the capital,” she said. “As the quality of crash data improves, we expect better and more effective interventions in the future to achieve the annual targets set by the government.”

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Alok K N Mishra is a journalist with the Hindustan Times, New Delhi. He writes on governance, policy and politics. He is an ardent follower of politics and is fascinated about making politics work better for the middle-class and the poor. He loves to discuss and predict the national political behaviour. Before shifting to Delhi, he covered political instability, governance, and misgovernance besides Maoists insurgency in Jharkhand for almost half a decade. He started out in 2010 as a city reporter with Times of India, Patna.

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