Road accidents have claimed more lives than wars: Nitin Gadkari

More people have lost their lives in India in road accidents than wars, militancy and Naxalism, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday, calling for a need to conduct regular safety audits of all highways and improvement in the quality of detailed project reports (DPRs) of road projects.

Speaking at the sixth edition of FICCI Road Safety Awards and Conclave 2024, Gadkari further said the number of blackspots is increasing because of bad detailed project reports (DPRs) of road projects. "More people have lost lives in road crashes than wars, militancy and Naxalism," he said. According to Gadkari, India accounts for 5 lakh accidents and 1.5 lakh deaths annually, while 3 lakh people are injured. "This caused a 3% loss to the country's GDP," he said.

The minister emphasised on the need to conduct safety audits of all highways and noted that all drivers need to follow lane discipline to reduce the number of accidents. Emphasizing on the need for collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) to improve the quality of DPRs, Gadkari said quality is critical for reducing road accidents and preventing project delays.