‘A family destroyed every 20 minutes’: Congress flags rising road deaths in UP, seeks urgent action

Lucknow: The Congress on Friday raised the issue of rising road accidents and fatalities in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the state government’s steps to improve road safety have been inadequate and largely symbolic.

Participating in a discussion under Rule 56 in the Assembly, Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ called for concrete and technology-driven interventions at identified accident-prone stretches, commonly referred to as “black spots”.

She said that in a state with a population exceeding 25 crore, where lakhs of people commute daily, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as a leader in road accidents.

Citing data, she stated that speeding accounts for 56 per cent of accidents, 12 per cent of deaths occur due to wrong-side driving, and 8 per cent are linked to drunk driving.

According to Mishra, around 45,000 road accidents take place annually in the state, resulting in over 24,000 deaths. She pointed out that road fatalities have risen from 16,000 in 2014 to more than 24,000 in 2024.

“Today, an average of 65 people die every day — nearly three every hour. A family is destroyed every 20 minutes,” she said, adding that over 50 per cent of the victims are young people.

Mishra alleged that government action on identified black spots has been superficial. She noted that 44 black spots have been identified in the Agra district alone, where 586 people lost their lives in 2024. Barabanki figures among the 100 major black spots in the country, yet permanent rectification of road alignment, design and technical flaws remains pending, she said.

She cited the accident on the Yamuna Expressway in Mathura, where a dumper crushed 10 passengers alighting from a bus, and another fatal accident on the under-construction Ganga Expressway in Rae Bareli. She also mentioned an overspeeding-related crash in Kanpur that claimed 10 lives.

The Congress lawmaker termed the road safety campaign conducted until January 31 as a mere formality focused on publicity. “Expenditure alone cannot prevent accidents,” she said.

Highlighting manpower shortages, she said that while the state has over 5 crore registered vehicles, it has only around 9,000 traffic police personnel against 11,930 sanctioned posts. She argued that at least 30,000 traffic personnel are needed to meet the standards laid down by the Supreme Court’s Road Safety Committee.

Mishra urged the government to conduct expert engineering audits of all black spots, upgrade road infrastructure and design, implement Intelligent Traffic Management Systems (ITMS) in every district, strengthen digital traffic monitoring, fill vacancies in traffic police and home guards, and introduce compulsory road safety education in schools and colleges.

She also demanded a transparent and permanent assistance mechanism for families affected by road accidents.

IANS