“As many as 25 persons die in road accidents on an average in India. Around five lakh minor and major accidents take place in the country on an average every year. As far as Nagpur is concerned, if all agencies work together, Nagpur may become an accident-free district,” said Justice (retd) Abhay Sapre, Chairperson of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee on Road Safety. The former Judge of the Supreme Court of India chaired a meeting of the committee at Ravi Bhavan in the city on Thursday. During the review, the officers concerned stated that deaths in road accidents had reduced in Nagpur district in the past few years. In 2021, there were 38 per cent fatalities in road accidents. It reduced to 28 per cent in 2022, and further to 18 per cent in 2023.

 

After taking stock of the situation, Justice Sapre said that the vehicle riders/drivers also should participate in the larger campaign to make Nagpur an accident-free district. “The loss of life in road accidents indicates human error. Very few accidents could be attributed to technical snag in vehicles or other reasons. It is of utmost importance to create confidence that lives could be saved with collective vigilance. Transport, Police, Public Works, and other departments concerned should create mass awareness to save lives lost in road accidents,” he stressed. Justice Abhay Sapre pointed out that around 1.50 lakh persons lost life every year in the country. These deaths could be attributed to a variety of reasons including not wearing seat-belts, not following motor vehicle rules, not conducting inspection and repairs of vehicles as per the norms, driving/riding vehicle in an inebriated condition, driving/riding vehicle without adequate sleep etc.

 

“Awareness holds the key to preventing accidents. For the purpose, implementing agencies should seek help of voluntary organisations. The proportion of road accidents is strikingly high in rural areas, and lack of awareness about use of helmet is palpable,” he said. He asked the officials to hold meetings at district-level on a regular basis, conduct analysis of road accidents and plan corrective measures accordingly, create awareness among students of Zilla Parishad schools, sensitive response to securing medical attention to persons injured in mishaps, and co-ordination among different agencies concerned are of utmost importance, he added. Vivek Bhimanwar, Transport Commissioner; Ravinder Singal, Commissioner of Police; Dr Vipin Itankar, District Collector; Saumya Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad; Harssh Poddar, Superintendent of Police (Nagpur Rural); senior officers of Highway Police, Public Works Department, Transport Department also were present prominently in the meeting.