Fasten your seat belts: Uptick in road accident deaths has Chhattisgarh officials worried

Chhattisgarh has seen a steady increase since 2021, with that year recording 5,371 deaths, last year seeing 5,834 and the first five months of this year seeing 2,707 deaths.

Three people died and four others were injured after their bus rammed into a stationary Hyva truck on a national highway in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur. The victims were from Ambikapur and were on their way to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public speech in Raipur. (Express photo)

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The number of deaths from road accidents in Chhattisgarh has been on the rise since a slight dip in 2020, with the first five months of this year seeing a spike of nearly 30 per cent when compared to the same period in pre-Covid 2019.

Seven children returning from school in an auto, 11 people from a family on their way to a wedding, three BJP workers on their way to attend a rally by the Prime Minister, and popular YouTuber Devraj Patel are among those to have died in road accidents in Chhattisgarh this year.

Officials have pointed to a lack of adequate manpower to enforce regulations and manage traffic, and other challenges such as poor training for drivers and the limited availability of public transport in remote areas that lead to overcrowding on private vehicles as among the reasons for the increasing number of deaths from accidents.

Over the last decade, the rate of deaths from road accidents has seen a major rise – from an average of 290 killed every month in 2013 to 486 in 2022, and 541 per month this year up to May. This amounts to an increase of nearly 87 per cent over a decade.

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In 2019, the state reported 5,003 deaths from road accidents, and this went down to 4,606 in 2020. However, it has been a steady increase since 2021, with that year recording 5,371 deaths, last year seeing 5,834 and the first five months of this year seeing 2,707 deaths.

Like in previous years, Raipur district, where the state capital is located, recorded 583 deaths in 2022, which is by far the highest among all 33 districts. Raipur is followed by Bilaspur (333 deaths), and then Korba, Durg and Raigarh – all three of which recorded around 300 deaths each.

As many as 66 per cent of those killed in road accidents last year were riding two-wheelers. According to the records, 82 per cent of the deaths were the result of over-speeding.

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State government officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there were only 1,556 personnel currently for the management of traffic and the enforcement of traffic rules. This, they said, was much lower than the more than 6,000 staffers required for the tasks considering the increasing number of vehicles in the state. Some new districts don’t even have the sanctioned strength for traffic police, the officials said.

Eleven people, including 10 members of a family, were killed in an accident in Chhattisgarh’s Balod district in May after the Bolero they were travelling in rammed into a truck carrying iron ore on the national highway. (Express photo)

R K Vij, retired director general of police in Chhattisgarh, called for a better process for issuing driving licences and for increased manpower in traffic regulation and enforcement.

“The driving skills of our motorists is terrible, and the process of giving licences in our country is extremely poor. It must be at par with Western countries. Based on vehicular population, a proposal to increase manpower was sent to the government but the required sanction was not obtained. A detailed analysis of accidents and police deployment needs to be scientifically conducted, particularly on black spots.”

The traffic police in Chhattisgarh see three major reasons behind the rise in deaths. Assistant Inspector General Sanjay Sharma, who is also joint commissioner and chairman of the interdepartmental lead agency for road safety in Chhattisgarh, said, “In the last two-three years, due to limited public transport services in remote villages, people have been making use of private vehicles such as Tempo vans and pick up trucks to get to social functions such as weddings and funerals. Several such vehicles have gotten into accidents and just a single such accident can lead to the death of several people.”

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“Secondly, in the last four-five years, due to economic growth, 25-30 lakh new vehicles have been registered in Chhattisgarh, and around 65-70 per cent of them have been two-wheelers. Most deaths from road accidents also involved two-wheelers. Thirdly, in rural areas, motorists are not properly trained and there is a lack of self-discipline on their part, leading to deaths in remote areas and on district roads. Even in cities, over-speeding, driving on the wrong side and negligence on the part of drivers lead to accidents. Also, in the last few years, new roads and highways have come up due to which motorists tend to over-speed, leading to accidents,” he added.

In response to the rising number of deadly accidents, Sharma said, authorities are concentrating on four ‘E’s – education, enforcement, engineering and emergency care.

Awareness from an early age is seen by the government as a key measure to curb accident deaths in the future. Around 3,000 school teachers have been given “master training” on the importance of road safety measures, and these teachers will in turn train up to 2 lakh other teachers working in schools. “Chhattisgarh has added road safety to the curriculum of school students from 1st to 10th standard, including in remote villages. Students will be educated on the importance of road safety. With time, this education will be updated,” said Sharma.

Another measure being taken by the government is asking hospitals to relocate ambulances to ensure that accident victims are taken to hospital within an hour – the ‘golden hour’ during which, if adequate treatment is given, the chances of survival increases considerably.

Authorities said funds have also been made available to develop new trauma care centres, so that time is not wasted in rushing victims to far-off hospitals.