Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): As many as 196 people lost their lives in accidents at black spots (accident-prone areas) in the city in 2023, according to the figures revealed by the traffic police on Thursday. The city has 14 black spots according to the new list released by the traffic police. The officials said Ratnagiri square in Piplani has emerged as the top black spot, beating Karond square, which was consistently in the first position for four consecutive years.
The Karond square has slipped to the second position followed by Misrod in the third place and the Prabhat square in the fourth place. The data provided by the city traffic police just mentioned the number of deaths that resulted after the accidents at black spots while the number of deaths across the city in 2023 stood at 457. Despite the soaring number of accidents and the emergence of new black spots in the city, the traffic police do not care even two hoots about the lives of the people.
The absence of traffic police personnel from all the top four black spots of the city is a testament to the fact. The officials on the other hand blamed the structure and the sorry state of the roads as the primary reason behind people’s deaths, while speeding and wrong-side driving also stand as underlying factors.
Meanwhile, a few checkpoints are set up by the traffic police to ensure smooth traffic management and the upkeep of the driving/riding norms. The checkpoints have been set up at Roshanpura square, Polytechnic square, Bairagarh square and Kolar area of the city, while other localities of the city reel under haphazard driving.
Engineers deployed to improve roads: DCP (Traffic)
Deputy commissioner of police (Traffic), Sanjay Singh, who recently assumed charge, told Free Press that in order to reduce accidents at black spots, they often deploy engineers to improve the condition of roads. Other parameters leading to accidents are verified too, he added. Nowhere in his comments did he admit that traffic police personnel must be deployed at black spots to reduce the accidents and prevent deaths.
