Maharashtra: '62,546 road accidents leading to 28,411 deaths in last two years,' says Fadnavis in Legislative Council

Mumbai: A whopping 62,546 road accidents have taken place in Maharashtra in the last two years, leading to the deaths of as many as 28,411 people, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the Legislative Council in a written reply.

Against this backdrop, the government has taken various measures, such as creating public awareness through road safety programmes, the ‘one-state one-challan’ scheme, and training police officers to save lives of injured people, he said.

The statements by Fadnavis come in response to questions by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC Prasad Lad and Peasant and Workers Party MLC Jayant Patil in the Legislative Council about steps the state government is taking to curb road accidents in Maharashtra. In the last two years, more than 27,000 people have lost their lives in car accidents, they said.

Staggering numbers

As many as 29,477 accidents had taken place in the state in 2021 and 33,069 in 2022, Fadnavis said in reply in the legislative council. While 13,528 died in 2021, 14,883 died last year.

Fadnavis stated that 1,004 dangerous spots have been identified and analysed to help the authorities take short, medium and long-term measures to bring down the number of accidents. He said heavy vehicles should not ply on the right side of the highways and speed limit is fixed for roads in plains and hilly areas. Under the ‘one state one challan’ scheme, there's a heavy penalty for traffic rule violators.