Bhubaneswar: Continuous rise in the number of road fatalities has been a major cause of concern for the state government. The authorities have failed to bring the number of road mishaps under control despite taking a series of initiatives.
Meanwhile, the state again witnessed a disturbing spike in road mishaps after easing down the Covid-19 lockdown between September and October last year. The road mishap fatalities increased by 27.5 per cent during festive months— September and October of last year compared to the same period in 2019.
According to official data prepared by Crime Branch, 872 people have been killed in road accidents during September and October in 2020 while 684 death cases were reported during the same period in 2019.
Faulty road engineering, speed driving, drink and drive are major factors responsible for the alarming rise in road mishaps.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its annual report on ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India’ makes a detailed factor-wise analysis of the road mishaps and fatalities across the country every year. The major factors mentioned by NCRB includes dangerous or careless driving, over-taking, over speeding, driving under influence of drug/alcohol, lack of road infrastructure and illegal parking of vehicles at road shoulders.
A perusal of the NCRB report for the last couple of years revealed that fatalities in road mishaps due to illegal parking of vehicles in Odisha outnumbered the fatalities caused by driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. In 2019, 295 accidents took place in the state due to illegal parking of vehicles on road shoulders. As many as 238 people were injured in the accidents while 156 succumbed to the injuries.
On the other hand, as many as 114 persons died in accidents in which the driver was found driving under the influence of alcohol during the same period.
Only Uttar Pradesh had registered more deaths (178) for illegal parking than Odisha in 2019.
Meanwhile, the state tops the list regarding road fatalities for parking on road shoulders in 2017 and 2018. As many as 318 persons died while 391 sustained injuries in 524 incidents of road accidents for vehicle parking along the roads in Odisha during 2017.
In 2018, the incidents of road accidents rose to 786 compared to 524 the previous year. The state recorded 241 deaths and 564 injuries in road accidents caused by illegal parking of vehicles on roads in 2018.
Recently, the Commissionerate Police launched a week-long drive to remove unclaimed and damaged vehicles parked on the road shoulders in Capital. The cops removed 188 vehicles causing traffic snarls in the City during the drive.
However, the situation on national and state highways still remains the same. One can find unused vehicles occupying major portions of the highways; endangering the lives of other commuters.
