To bring down deaths, safety must get highest priority while constructing roads: Nitin Gadkari
Raipur (PTI): Union minister Nitin Gadkari has drawn attention to the rising number of road accidents and consequent deaths, and stressed on giving safety the highest priority while constructing pathways in the country.
Addressing the 83rd annual session of the Indian Roads Congress at Pt Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium here on Friday, he said if anyone dies in an accident due to road engineering fault in the future, then he will hold himself guilty for it.
Highlighting the Centre's efforts to prevent road accidents, he urged government engineers to quit their jobs and start a good DPR (detailed project report) making company, assuring them to give work on a priority basis.
The Minister of Road Transport and Highways emphasized on production of bitumen and CNG from stubble in agriculture-dominated Chhattisgarh, arguing the move will cut dependence on fossil fuels and check pollution.
He announced a slew of road projects for Chhattisgarh and said he believes the state will have a road network similar to that of America in the next two years.
"Every year 1.50 lakh deaths due to road accidents are reported which has now increased to 1.68 lakh. Efforts are on to improve the shortcomings in road engineering and automobile engineering but defective DPR has created a major problem," the minister maintained.
He advised government engineers to quit their jobs and start a good DPR-making company.
"We have been making serious efforts to prevent road accidents. Nearly 60 per cent victims of road accidents are aged between 18 and 34 years. I would like to urge you to build roads where no accidents take place (due to defective engineering works)," he said.
Improvement in road engineering will curb accidents and save lives, Gadkari asserted.
"We have made rules in automobile engineering. If anyone dies in an accident due to road engineering in the future, then I will feel that I am guilty for it," he told participants at the event.
Pointing at the gathering of officials and engineers, the minister said no tenders should be issued without carefully examining DPR for projects.
Road safety should be given the highest priority to prevent accident deaths, he added.
Gadkari emphasized the significance of waste-to-energy technologies and urged Chhattisgarh to work on producing CNG and bitumen using paddy straw.
The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, have developed bio-bitumen from paddy straw and it is being used in Meghalaya, he told the gathering.
"It (paddy straw) can be used up to 35 per cent in bitumen. The country's requirement of bitumen is 90 lakh metric tonnes and capacity of refinery is 40-50 lakh metric tonnes. We are importing 50 lakh metric tonnes," Gadkari said.
If Chhattisgarh starts producing bitumen from stubble, it will be a waste-to-wealth move, he said.
Similarly, 400 projects for producing bio-CNG and bio-LNG from paddy straw have started in Punjab and Haryana. If Chhattisgarh will do the same, no petrol and diesel will be required in the state, the Union minister opined.
Gadkari underlined the need to develop robust infrastructure to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India).
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Waqf (Amendment) Bill 'assault' on Constitution: Sonia Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday termed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill as a "brazen assault" on the Constitution, saying it was part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a state of "permanent polarisation".
Hours after the Lok Sabha passed the Waqf amendment bill, Gandhi said the bill was "bulldozed" through in the lower house.
Addressing Congress MPs at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in Samvidhan Sadan here, she also said that the One Nation, One Election Bill is another subversion of the Constitution and the party would strongly oppose it.
"Whether it is education, civil rights and liberties, our federal structure or conduct of elections, the Modi government is dragging the country into an abyss where our Constitution will remain on paper and we know their intention is to demolish even that," she charged.
"It is vital for all of us to continue to fight for what is right and just, to expose Modi government's failing and intention to turn India into a surveillance state," Gandhi told MPs at the meeting.
All party MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, were present at the meeting.
Sonia Gandhi also alleged that the prime minister has rebranded, repackaged and marketed numerous initiatives taken during 2004-2014 as his own personal accomplishments. That too needs to be exposed through our own public outreach activities, she asserted.
Speaking on the functioning of both houses of Parliament, she charged that the Leaders of Opposition are not allowed to speak and the treasury benches are often found to be creating disturbance in a bid to not allow the Congress to raise their issues.
Noting that the BJP members aggressively target Congress-ruled state governments, with "total falsehoods", she urged party MPs to be equally aggressive and raise the failures and mis-governance in BJP-ruled states.
This will mean much more pointed homework and research on our part, she noted.
The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill well past midnight after a 12-hour debate.
The Bill was passed after all amendments moved by the opposition members were rejected by voice votes. It was passed after division of votes -- 288 in favour and 232 against. The Bill will now come up in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
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