Project consultants to be prosecuted for accidents: Gadkari

Minister asserts that drivers aren't responsible for all deaths, poor road engineering is quite often to blame

The consultants, who prepare detailed project report for road projects, could be held as co-accused whenever a road accident takes place on those roads, said Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari.

“Please don’t take it the wrong way. But I am thinking of changing the law so that consultants — who prepare detailed project report for the road — would also be held accountable for the road accident which takes place (on that road),” he said at a highway stakeholders meet.

The audience, which consisted of contractors, consultants and material suppliers, applauded the minister’s announcement. “Almost 150,000 people are dying almost every year. Road safety is our primary concern. There have been huge mistakes in road engineering,” he said.

According to the ministry data, around 146,000 people were killed in road accidents in India in 2015. This was more than 4.6 per cent more than the 139,000 people were killed in 2014.

“Officials working in the road engineering department believe that the driver is responsible for every death. This is not true. I have myself seen examples where road engineering has been the reason for accidents. Therefore, for the safety of people, there should be perfection while writing the DPR by people like you,” the minister said.

According to the ministry, the states with the highest number of road accidents in 2015 are Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. These states contribute 29.66 per cent to the total number of accidents recorded nationwide.