UP killer roads need surgery to fix 'black spots'

The state government has identified almost 1,250 such spots across the length and breath of the state

Even as the Centre has identified 100 accident prone ‘black spots’ on the roads of Uttar Pradesh, the UP government has itself identified almost 1,250 such spots across the length and breath of the state.

In traffic parlance, ‘black spot’ refers to areas on a road that witness higher frequency of accidents. The road mishaps occur either due to blind turns, faulty road layout, wrong intersections or unmanned traffic posts, etc.

UP and Tamil Nadu hold the distinction of accounting for the maximum number of road accident casualties in India, according to the latest available figures. Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka trail close.

Western UP, which has superior road network and also busier roads due to its proximity with the national capital, account for a higher share of road mishaps. Western UP districts such as Aligarh, Etawah, Hathras, Kasganj, Agra and Mathura account for a large number of ‘black spots’. The 165-km Greater Noida-Agra Yamuna Expressway is also a major contributor to these figures.

UP has a vast network of surface roads, spanning almost 140,000 km, including national/state highways, expressways and district/tertiary roads. The national highways and expressways in UP measure about 7,000 km, including the two major expressways in the offing -- Agra-Lucknow Expressway (underway) and proposed Lucknow-Ballia Expressway.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had last month said in New Delhi his ministry would spend Rs 11,000 crore over the next five years to deal with the menace of traffic ‘black spots’ in the country.

In 2014, nearly 450,000 road accidents took place in India, wherein 140,000 people died and 480,000 were injured, according to the latest available data of the National Crime Records Bureau. While, speeding and reckless driving were primarily blamed for the road fatalities, two-wheelers and commercial trucks accounted for half of the road accident deaths.

During the same period, UP had accounted for over 16,000 road accident deaths. UP and TN account for 100 ‘black spots’ each of the total 726 such spots identified by the Union ministry for improvement in India. The cumulative length of the national highways in India is roughly 100,000 km.

Gadkari had said road accidents resulted in economic loss estimated at Rs 60,000 crore annually.

The state government has been holding meetings at the highest bureaucratic level to deal with the issue of black spots in UP, yet desired results have so far eluded it. Some of the measures to rectify ‘black spots’ include putting traffic signage, laying speed breakers, widening roads and deploying traffic cops.

An earlier report had suggested that road casualties had dipped by 28 per cent after steps were taken to fix ‘black spots’ in different states.

Meanwhile, UP Additional Transport Commissioner Gangaphal told Business Standard work on removing ‘black spots’ was already underway in the state and some works had already been completed.

“The responsibility of dealing with the ‘black spots’ primarily rests with the National Highways Authority of India and the Public Works Department, depending upon the road whether it is national highway, state highway or district road,” he underlined.

Yamuna Expressway had witnessed almost 2,200 accidents resulting in about 320 deaths between August 2012 and April 2015. About 30 identified ‘black spots’ have been identified along its route.