Government to spend Rs 11K cr to fix black accident spots: Gadkari

Concerned over alarmingly high number of 5 lakh annual road accidents in the country, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said the government will spend Rs 11,000 crore over five years to fix "black" accident spots.

"Accidents cause an annual loss of Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore, which amounts to 3% of the GDP. It is saddening to see that mostly youth aged 22-33 years lose their lives. To deal with such an alarming scenario, 726 black spots have been identified across the country," said the Road Transport and Highways Minister.

He said the government has decided to spend Rs 11,000 crore over the next five years to fix the accident spots by correcting road design, addressing engineering issues and building underpasses and flyovers.

Gadkari said work on 10 black spots in Delhi began on Monday and some of these are such, where around 150 persons have lost their lives. These spots are – Sarai Kale Khan, Kashmere Gate chowk (Morigate), Nigam Bodh Ghat, Mukundpur Chowk, Dr Bhahbha Marg crossing, Punjabi Bagh Chowk, ISBT Kashmere Gate, Mahipalpur Flyover, Shani Mandir and Shahdara Flyover.

"In a year 5 lakh accidents take place in the country, of which 1.5 lakh people die and another 3 lakh are crippled for life. So many people do not even die in wars or extremism killing or disease. This is a serious concern," Gadkari said.

He appealed to states to correct such spots on State Highways as well as municipal and district roads, saying that his ministry was contemplating approaching Finance Ministry for some assistance to states from the Centre under the Central Road Cess.