The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Road accidents snuff out 30 lives every day in State

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Road accidents snuff out 30 lives every day in State

M. Malleswara Rao

No concerted effort by the Government to check the alarming trend

HYDERABAD : Roads in the State have turned into death traps, claiming 30 lives a day on an average, the highest in the accident rate in Andhra Pradesh. The toll is on the rise every year but there is no concerted effort by the Government to check this alarming trend.

The only organised effort to arrest it has hit a roadblock. The Andhra Pradesh Road Safety Bill, proposed six years ago to tackle the whole gamut of problems on the highways, has not seen the light of the day, thanks to the lack of cooperation to the Police Department from the Transport, R& B and Medical departments, local bodies, Hyderabad Urban Development Authority, National Highways Authority of India, APSRTC and the Railways.

The Bill, which was drafted by a Cabinet sub-committee, sought to constitute a State Highway Authority armed with powers to reverse the trend. But, it could not be pushed through as each department raised objection apprehending dilution in its powers.

For instance, the Transport and R&B Department sought deletion of several provisions on the ground that a legislation drafted earlier -- the AP State Highway Bill of 1989 -- had met a similar fate.

Consequently, the State Highway Authority was formed through an executive order sans budget or staff. The 60 Qualis vehicles earmarked for round-the-clock patrolling of highways are expected to cover 1,000 km. Each vehicle requires 12 men and Rs. 1.5 lakhs a month but there is simply no money for this. Five years ago, 28,902 road accidents were reported leaving in their trail 8,248 people dead and 37,931 injured.

In 2005, these numbers jumped by nearly 30 per cent to 38,339 accidents, 11,076 dead and 53,666 injured. Till March this year, there have been a whopping 11,158 accidents that have claimed over 3,000 lives and left 15,470 others with injuries.

On the rise

Ironically, accidents are rising even though roads are becoming wider and the vehicles more efficient.

Many of vehicles seen on the roads are new generation cars and multi-utility vehicles which can travel at high speed but can be lethal to other users if the driver is careless.

There are 61.47 lakh registered vehicles, including 21 lakhs in Hyderabad. Over 5,500 vehicles are registered in the State every day of which Hyderabad alone accounts for 1,800.

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