Dial 100 data (see tables) shows that number of road accidents is on the rise in MP. The big question facing authorities and people is to identify the real problem in that if it is the good roads or the bad driving habits which leads to more accidents. ASP traffic Arvind Dubey said, “It is irrational to blame the good roads for the if students are versed in traffic rules and nuances of driving, they will not just become perfect drivers but also better navigation aid to the elders who drive them around.”
He added “It is high time that a course on driving and traffic rules should be introduced in the school curriculum and passing it should be made mandatory.” Roads in MP, which were once considered bad, are now being compared with those in Washington.Chief engineer of the public works department Akhilesh Upadhaya claimed that between 2003 and 2018 not just the length of roads but importantly the maintenance and renovations of the roads too has improved.
He told Free Press that the length of district main roads had increased from 11,051 kilometres (km) to 22,129 kilometres and the length of national highways have increased from 47,22 km to 11,822 km. Upadhaya said that the fund for maintenance has increased from Rs 30 crore to Rs 710 crore in 2018. He claimed that the government is trying to build better roads in MP, and about accidents he said, “Roads are constructed according to best practices of road engineering.”
Dubey too second his opinion, “It is irrational to blame the good roads for the accidents. The pressure of vehicles, on the roads, is increasing by the day.” He added that along with heavy traffic, rash driving, lack of patience and use of mobile while driving too are the reasons for increased accidents. “Importantly the drivers lack civic sense, they violate traffic rules at will including over speeding.”
He added “Better roads give the opportunity to the drivers to run the vehicles in the optimum speed. But they tend to breach the permissible speed as they are not trained to handle the vehicle on the particular speed”. SP of Dial-100 Amit Saxena informed that the complaints received by the control room of the Dial-100 are divided into three categories including simple accidents, serious accidents and cow run over accidents. He addes that Indore is at the top amongst the 10 districts in which most accidents are reported followed by Bhopal, Gwalior Satna and Jabalpur.
