Anoop Nautiyal
The death of 36 people in yet another tragic road accident in Uttarakhand is heartbreaking. As a state, we continue to lose close to 1,000 people every year in road accidents. This roughly translates to one road accident death every 8 hours in our state. It must be remembered that the number of injured is significantly higher than those who are killed in road accidents.
It is noteworthy to mention that the accident severity rate i.e the number of people dead in 100 accidents is significantly higher in Uttarakhand compared to the national average. As per the latest data available for the period of 2018 to 2022 in the website of the State Transport Department in Uttarakhand, the accident severity rate in the state has ranged from a high of 71.3 in 2018 to a low of 58.36 in 2021. It is extremely concerning to add that our accident severity rate is more than double of the national average.
It is equally disheartening to note that not a single state government, whether BJP or Congress, has looked seriously at the issue of road accidents in Uttarakhand. Suspending lower level officials as in the case of the recent Almora accident is a knee jerk and immature decision, meant only to manage the headlines. We will continue to lose even more lives until the state government and its various departments do not earnestly work on the principles of 4E – engineering, emergency care, enforcement and education. Needless to add, there is a massive need to educate and make all drivers aware about road safety. Developing a culture of road safety is a herculean task that requires concerted efforts from all departments and all stakeholders, it cannot be the responsibility of the police alone.
