States have to use 10% of central fund to repair National Highways' black spots

NEW DELHI: Now 10% of the Central Road Fund (CRF) allocated to each state will be utilised for works relating to road safety. The Centre has modified the CRF rules to include this provision, particularly for repair of black spots based on road crashes and fatality data or works

CRF is formed by collection of cess levied on petrol and diesel every year. The Central government allocates the share to the states based on a formula that gives 30% weightage for fuel consumption and 70% for its geographical area.

According to the modified guidelines, "road safety works" will get priority in road-building projects or any scheme that state governments will undertake using CRF. The other major focus area will be using this fund for building over bridges or underpasses.

Sources said the changes were made considering the increasing number of crashes on both state and national highways. The fund will be primarily used for the network comprising selected state highways and major district roads in states, which have the potential to be upgraded as National Highways.

According to government's latest road accident data, nearly 97,000 of the 1.46 lakh deaths on roads took place on state highways and other roads. Rural areas were more prone to road crashes, accounting for 53.8% of total road accidents during 2015. The percentage of road fatalities was higher at 61% (89,155) in rural areas in comparison to nearly 57,000 in urban areas.