The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Accidents, more accidents every day

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 03, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Accidents, more accidents every day

M. Malleswara Rao

On an average, there were 131 accidents daily in January and February in the State

HYDERABAD: The roads in Andhra Pradesh have turned into veritable death-traps as more and more accidents are taking place than ever before in spite of sustained campaigns for road safety.

The data complied by the Andhra Pradesh Road Safety Authority (APRSA) for this year show that the accident rate involving all types of vehicles is on rise in the State. Everyday, on an average, there were 131 accidents in January and February this year. Thirty-six persons lost their lives and 179 were injured. The corresponding figures last year were 117 accidents, 34 deaths and 164 injuries.

The reasons

The rising accident rate is chiefly attributed to speeding, drunken or rash driving and lack of staff to enforce safety measures and the total absence of coordination among the connected departments/agencies concerned — police, transport, health, roads and buildings, the Panchayat Raj and civic bodies.

The Government has toyed with the idea of making the APRSA a powerful body headed by Chief Minister to ensure better coordination among these departments in line with a U.N. resolution to avoid accidents. But it remains on paper even after five years.

A Bill drafted for extending legislative support to the road safety authority "has not seen the light of day," regrets a senior official. As a result, highway patrol is entrusted to a mere 60 Qualis vehicles which, by all standards, are considered junk. The requirement is for over 500 vehicles.

For the two-month period this year so far, the Hyderabad urban police district topped the list with 625 accidents, followed by Cyberabadthat skirts it (594). The highways join the city as high traffic corridors from Mumbai, Bangalore, Nagpur and Vijayawada and the drivers tend to pick up speed suddenly after crossing a maze of traffic snarls in the city limits. This also leads to accidents.

East Godavari, Nalgonda and Medak, where national highways criss-cross, rank next with 414, 392 and 364 accidents. Last year, Hyderabad reported 3,459 accidents with 424 deaths, Cyberabad 3,716 9 (1,036) and East Godavari 2,392 (661).

Neighbours' cases

Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have a higher vehicle population but their accident rate is much lesser. There are many suggestions to keep the accidents under check — re-installation of "speed-governors" on RTC buses, a strict observance of speed limit in the urban and residential areas and stringent punishment for drunken/rash driving but the implementation is lacking.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh