5 people were killed and many were injured in a road accident in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras when a tractor trolley collided with a dumper on Friday night. Further details on the matter are awaited. According to Navbharat Times, around 24 people were sitting in the tractor trolley and were going from Mathura to Govardhan to perform 'Parikrama' when their vehicle collided with the dumper. The incident occurred at Sadabad's Jalesar road.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari on July 20 said the total number of fatalities due to road accidents in the year 2021 is 1,53,972, viz. roughly an average of 18 deaths per hour. While responding to a question by DMK Lok Sabha MP Gnanathiraviam S on the first day of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, Gadkari said Maharashtra ranked 6th in the number of road accidents and third in the number of deaths across the country as per “Road Accidents in India 2021” report.
According to the data received from the police department of all the states and Union Territories for 2021, the total number of critically injured people in road accidents stood at 1,72,278, the minister said. He added that as per a report titled “Socio-Economic Cost of Road Accidents in India” by DIMTS in association with TRIPP-IIT Delhi, the socio-economic costs of road accidents are somewhere around 3.14% of the nation’s GDP.
He then added that the Road Transport Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to tackle this issue of road safety based on education, engineering, enforcement and emergency care.
He also informed the house that in a bid to create effective public awareness about road safety, the Road Ministry has undertaken several measures and awareness campaigns through social media, print media, and electronic media. Moreover, the ministry administers a scheme which would provide financial assistance to various agencies towards Road Safety Advocacy.
The Union Minister also said that safety has been made an integral part of road design at the planning stage itself. Road Safety Audit (RSA) of all National Highways (NHs) has been made mandatory through third-party auditors and experts at all stages viz. design, construction, operation and maintenance.