By IANS
New Delhi : Expressing concern over increasing road accidents in India, Minister of Shipping and Transport T.R. Baalu Friday said that the social cost of such mishaps worked out to Rs.550 billion annually.
“In the year 2000, the Planning Commission had assessed the social cost at Rs.55,000 crore (Rs.550 billion) on account of road accidents in the country,” Baalu said, while inaugurating a two-day regional conference of Geneva-based International Road Federation (IRF) here.
“India already accounts for about 10 percent of the total 1.2 million fatal accidents in the world. Estimates of the Planning Commission and the World Bank have put the social cost of accidents between 2-3 percent of GDP every year,” Baalu added.
The minister asked road experts to find out ways and means to reduce the number of mishaps.
“I understand that an estimated 146 million violations are committed by motorised vehicles alone. In the national capital territory (NCT) Delhi, an estimated 33 million violations are committed, not due to the negligence or will of the driver alone, but due to faulty traffic engineering systems,” he said.
“Road deaths and accidents are preventable. We need to change our culture on the road, imbibe road discipline and respect the right of the other road users,” he said, adding that his ministry was planning to set up road safety clubs to involve schoolchildren for promoting road safety.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said: “The state government is seriously concerned about increasing fatal road accidents and has taken several measures, including introduction of low floor buses on several routes by the end of the year.”
K.K. Kapila, vice chairman of IRF, said that road operations, designs for road safety and road safety audits would be discussed during the two-day conference.