Roads in Modi govt: 'Good' in construction speed, not so much on safety

Nitin Gadkari stepped up the speed of road construction by making land acquisition easier and roping in the private sector. But on road safety, he hit a dead end

A death every four minutes on the roads is a figure that Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari did not like one bit. He vowed to lower it by improving road safety. 

The Motor Vehicle (Amendments) Bill approved by the Cabinet as far back as August 2016 was a radical and much-needed overhaul of a 30-year-old law. It hiked the fine for rash driving from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000, for drunk driving from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000, and raised the compensation given to the families of those who died in hit-and-run cases from a mere Rs