MillenniumPost
Delhi

Gurugram's killer roads claimed 368 lives this year

GURUGRAM: Crores of rupees may be pumped in by the state government to improve the condition of city roads, but safety of commuters and pedestrians continues to be a big challenge in Gurugram where an average of two people lose their lives daily due to road mishaps.
This year, till October, already 368 deaths have been reported due to road accidents. The figure has surpassed last year's 357, with pedestrians and people on two wheelers the most vulnerable groups.
Faulty road designs, poor signages and mismanagement of traffic on Gurugram's major roads make them accident prone, claim experts.
There also are 108 lives lost to over-speeding and rash driving.
While the highest number of fatal accidents was reported from outer areas of Gurugram, such as Pataudi, Bilaspur and Farukhnagar, within the city centre, areas of Sector-10, Shivaji Nagar have been deemed to be unsafe.
National Highway-8, popularly known as Delhi-Jaipur Highway, is the busiest route in the city. But it seems to not have fared better in terms of safety, with over 108 fatal accidents reported this year.
The loss of valuable lives can be gauged from the fact that on Wednesday, a three-year-old girl died while crossing the road at Manesar.
Several factors make driving extremely unsafe in Gurugram. To begin with, there are no proper cuts and diversions for commuters.
"There is negligible action taken by authorities for over-speeding and rash driving," says Rajeev Verma, a Gurugram resident.
"With the area seeing massive jams due to ongoing construction activities, most two-wheelers try to violate the traffic rules and makes themselves as well as other susceptible to accidents," he added.
Shortage of useful infrastructure, like foot over bridges (FOBs), on busy city roads also adds to the dangers for pedestrians.
In the past, local residents forced district authorities to build FOBs, after death of pedestrians due to high speed vehicles at Gurugram-Faridabad area.
Yet, residents complain that poor maintenance and incomplete work has resulted in people still not using the FOBs.
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