Gadkari Wants Strict Penalty for Faulty Roads
Nitin Gadkari calls for stricter penalties for road makers and aims to halve fatalities by 2030
By : Madhusudan Sahoo
Update: 2025-01-16 12:26 GMT
New Delhi: As the road accidents are on the rise, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday talked tough on road makers, saying that faulty road construction should be made a non bailable offence and road contractors and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and sent to prison.
Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said that India is number one in road accidents in the world. “Faulty road construction should be a non-bailable offence and road contractors, concessionaires and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and sent to prison,” the minister said.
The ministry of road transport and highways aims to reduce road accident fatalities to half by 2030. “The ministry data of road accidents in 2023 shows five lakh mishaps in the country resulting in 1,72,000 deaths. Of this, 66.4 per cent, or 1,14,000, were in the 18-45 years age bracket, while 10,000 deaths were of children,” Gadkari said.
The minister also pointed out that 55,000 deaths were reported due to absence of helmets and 30,000 were due to non-use of seat belts. “The highways ministry is spending Rs 40,000 crore to rectify black spots on highways,” he said.
Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said that India is number one in road accidents in the world. “Faulty road construction should be a non-bailable offence and road contractors, concessionaires and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and sent to prison,” the minister said.
The ministry of road transport and highways aims to reduce road accident fatalities to half by 2030. “The ministry data of road accidents in 2023 shows five lakh mishaps in the country resulting in 1,72,000 deaths. Of this, 66.4 per cent, or 1,14,000, were in the 18-45 years age bracket, while 10,000 deaths were of children,” Gadkari said.
The minister also pointed out that 55,000 deaths were reported due to absence of helmets and 30,000 were due to non-use of seat belts. “The highways ministry is spending Rs 40,000 crore to rectify black spots on highways,” he said.
The minister also urged the industry and other stakeholders to partner with the government for setting up driver training and fitness centres to address the acute shortage of drivers in the country.