Gurugram : Driving on Gurugram's roads continues to be a risky affair, even as the Haryana government pumps in crores of rupees worth of investment to enhance infrastructure of roads. According to official information, as many as 170 lives have been lost to road accidents between January to April this year.
The industrial area in South Zone – that includes Manesar, Bilaspur and Pataudi, all of which see massive movement of heavy vehicles – lead the dubious list of road accidents.
More than infrastructural deficiencies, the high fatality rate has more to do with carelessness of drivers.
According to a senior official of Gurugram Traffic Police, more than 60 per cent of deadly accidents are caused due to overspeeding.
Taking cognisance of the problem, authorities have come up with several initiatives to deal with it. Among these is the installation of speed detection cameras, stringent action against overloaded vehicles and stationing more traffic officials at the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
Most road mishap victims are often observed to be pedestrians and two-wheeler riders.
For the last five years, there have been more than 1,000 cases of road mishaps in Gurugram, which have led to at least 4,000 casualties.
Faulty road designs, barely legible signages and poor management of traffic on the major roads of Gurugram have made them accident prone, claim experts.
While the highest number of fatal accidents have been reported from outer areas of Gurugram like Pataudi, Bilaspur and Farukhnagar, within the city centre, areas such as Sector-10 and Shivaji Nagar have also been deemed unsafe.
Numerous factors today make driving extremely unsafe in Gurugram. To begin with, there are no proper cuts and diversions for commuters on major roads.
Moreover, hardly any negligible action is taken by authorities in cases of overspeeding and rash driving.
"There is also no system of three-wheelers and private buses plying in the area," said Rajeev Verma, a city resident.
"With the city seeing massive jams due to ongoing construction activities, most two-wheelers try to violate traffic rules and make themselves as well as others on the road susceptible," he said
Shortage of facilities like foot over bridges on busy city roads also adds to the dangers for pedestrians.
On an average, nine accidents occur daily in the Millennium City. In 2014, there were 1,180 recorded in Gurugram accidents, which claimed 430 lives.
In 2015, the cases reduced slightly to 1,140, but the death toll was higher at 435. In 2016, there were 1,201 incidents of accidents, which led to 420 deaths. Last year, 481 people lost their lives on the roads of Gurugram.