Rs.11,000 crore fund for fixing accident prone areas

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday announced a Rs.11,000 crore to fix accident prone areas across the country in the next five years.

Announced as part of the "Road Safety Week" launched by union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, safety measures also included a website being launched to identify black spots where accidents occur frequently.

"People can send information about such spots to the ministry of road transport and highways which will further take up the issue with the authorities concerned," said Gadkari, according to an official statement.

In Delhi, work on fixing ten black spots has already begun.

Noting that a Road Safety Authority will be constituted and a Road Transport and Safety Bill will be placed shortly before parliament, he asked all to take a resolve on road safety and bring down road accidents by 50 percent in (the) next five years.

Rajnath Singh, expressing concern on nearly five lakh road accidents that occur in India evet year, said all stakeholders (have) to play effective role in ensuring safety on roads.

"There is a need for proper training of drivers before they are issued driving licenses," he said.