Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav stressed here on Saturday that the city could become number one in traffic management only with strong public participation, while DCP (Traffic) Anand Kaladagi highlighted the pressure on the city roads, citing 33 lakh registered vehicles, a population of 35 lakh and only 700 traffic personnel.
The duo was speaking at a panel discussion on “Who Is Responsible for Indore’s Increasing Road Accidents?” organized by Indore Press Club (IPC), in which public representatives, experts and social groups gathered to discuss solutions.
The Mayor admitted that traffic remained one of the city’s toughest challenges. “We may not have achieved major success in five years, but visible change has begun. Improvement is possible only if we avoid breaking rules ourselves and discourage others from doing so,” he said.
Bhargav identified engineering, awareness and better facilities as essential pillars of traffic reform and acknowledged that road digging for drainage, sewerage and water pipelines had caused inconvenience this year.
Kaladagi said most accident deaths occurred because riders did not wear helmets. He added that steps were being taken to regulate e-rickshaw routes. He also said that the number of accidents had declined recently due to safety initiatives.
However, he said that strict action was being taken to check drunk driving. “Around 4000 challans were issued for drunk driving in 2023, which rose to nearly 5000 in 2024. This year, we have issued more than 19,600 challans for the same offence, nearly four times more than last year’s figure,” he said.
ADM Roshan Rai defended the “No Helmet, No Petrol” rule, saying it was implemented solely to protect lives. He emphasized the need for self-discipline as multiple vehicles per household had become common, adding to congestion.
In his address, former Press Club president Arvind Tiwari described the alarming rise in fatal accidents as unprecedented, noting that many families suffered tragic losses due to reckless and speeding drivers.
IPC president Deepak Kardam presented accident statistics showing a rise in annual crashes, with 2,973 accidents and 204 deaths recorded between January and October 2025 alone. According to IPC general secretary Pradeep Joshi, over 90 percent of fatal accidents in 2025 involved drunk and speeding drivers.
Experts and community leaders also shared their concerns. Traffic expert Rajkumar Jain pointed to human error and normalized wrong-side driving, while infrastructure specialist Atul Sheth said public transport planning had failed to keep pace with population growth. Others highlighted issues such as neglected black spots, outdated city infrastructure, unsafe overtaking and lack of strict enforcement.
The event was attended by social workers and representatives of various civic organizations.
