New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI): Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said faulty road construction should be made a non-bailable offence and road contractors and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and punished.
Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said 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," he said.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways aims to reduce road accident fatalities to half by 2030.
According to the minister, 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.
He pointed out that 55,000 deaths were reported due to absence of helmets and 30,000 were due to non-use of seat belts.
Gadkari also said the highways ministry is spending Rs 40,000 crore to rectify black spots on highways.
He urged the industry and other stakeholders to partner with the government to set up driver training and fitness centres to address the acute shortage of drivers in the country.
Gadkari also said it has been decided that trucks in India should be fitted with driver fatigue and sleep-detection devices to improve road safety.
"In many other countries, drivers get down after driving for eight hours. Our drivers go on driving for up to 15-18 hours non-stop.
"We need to respond to these needs and be sensitive to drivers' fatigue for promoting road safety," he said.
The minister focused on the need to involve children from class 5 to class 11 in road safety promotion, and educate them, and make them road-safety ambassadors.
"In the auto sector, we have already brought reforms from the lens of road safety. Bharat NCAP Ratings have been brought to make sure compliance on the road safety from auto sector is there," he added.
"Road Engineers, and Road Developers need to focus on standards of road from the lens of road safety. We need to improve DPRs from road safety perspective," he said.
Safe Drivers need to be incentivised, the minister said.
"Penalising violations is only part of solution. Companies should study the pilot (project) in Nagpur on how good and safe drivers are being incentivised through goodies, discounts and coupons," Gadkari said.
Speaking at the event, Road Transport and Highways Secretary V Umashankar said road safety initiatives should be converted into a mass movement.
"Each accident point has its own story to tell, each black spot has its own story. We need to sensitise people at the district level," he said.
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Pune, Feb 10 (PTI): Amidst high drama, former Maharashtra minister Tanaji Sawant’s son Rishiraj was brought back to Pune along with two friends on late Monday evening, cutting short their trip to Bangkok, hours after police filed a kidnapping case, officials said.
According to Ranjan Kumar Sharma, joint commissioner of police, Rishiraj Sawant (32) and his two friends had booked a chartered plane for Bangkok without informing his family, but an anonymous phone call spoilt their travel plans.
After police registered a kidnapping case following the anonymous call made to the control room, his whereabouts were traced and he was brought back to Pune along with his friends, he said at a hurriedly convened press conference.
"Our police control room received a call around 4 pm in which an anonymous caller informed us that Rishiraj was taken away by some unidentified people. Accordingly, we swung into action and registered a kidnapping offence.
"During the probe, it was revealed Rishiraj along with his two friends had booked a chartered plane for Bangkok. We tracked the flight and contacted the airline for the aircraft's return. The flight has now returned to Pune with three passengers, including Rishiraj," informed Sharma.
"We will enquire and find out the purpose of his trip to Bangkok and why he did not inform the family about his travel plans," the police officer said.
While replying to a question, Tanaji Sawant, who was present at the police briefing, denied any dispute with his son.
According to police sources, the flight to the Thailand capital was booked for Rs 78 lakh.
The former minister said he contacted police after coming to know his son had left for the airport with friends without informing the family.
A week ago, Rishiraj Sawant had gone to Dubai, but this trip was known to family members, said the senior politician.
Asked about the police machinery going into an overdrive to trace his son and bring him back, the former minister maintained was worried as a father.
Joint commissioner of police Sharma said the anonymous call indicated Rishiraj Sawant was taken away by unidentified people and on that basis, an FIR of kidnapping was registered.
The IPS officer opined that in such cases, things do not proceed unless an FIR is registered and that is why police moved quickly and filed an offence.