NEW DELHI: Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday publicly blamed civil engineers for rising road accident deaths in the country and said those drafting faulty road project reports should be booked and arrested.
Terming as “embarrassing” the large number of road accident fatalities in the country, Gadkari equally blamed “government system for lack of sensitivity and delayed reporting and rectification of black spots”.
“It will not be appropriate for me to criticise people, but it is my responsibility to tell the truth. The most important culprit in these events (accident deaths) are civil engineers. I don’t blame anybody. Today, I am directly taking their (civil engineers) name because after 10 years of experience, I have reached the conclusion that those who make DPRs in which there are thousands of mistakes are responsible (for deaths),” he said.
The quality of DPR was so bad that persons responsible for this should be booked and taken into custody, said Gadkari, expressing frustration over 1.8 lakh annual road accident deaths in the country and 66.4 per cent of them involving 18 to 45-year-old young people who left behind elderly dependents.
The minister was addressing an event on safer roads organised by International Road Federation India Chapter. He attributed his anxiety to accident deaths due to civil engineering mistakes and also expressed frustration over a laggard government system that took years to react.
“In the government, of which I am a part, there is no sensitivity…. The system is working in a way that whatever decisions we are taking to improve black spots take years to be implemented. We have issued circulars, but the bureaucratic system is delaying rectification,” the minister said, adding he would suspend those who were betraying common citizens.
Gadkari also informed that in consultation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a decision was being mulled to change DRP rules to boost quality and do away with the lowest bidder criteria.
“We are also going to mandate use of precast concrete slabs for road construction in most places,” the minister said, adding a proposal was being considered whereby any DPR worth over Rs 1,000 crore must involve a joint venture where a foreign agency owned 51 per cent stake.
“India has 4.8 lakh road accidents annually and 1.8 lakh deaths. Over 66 per cent deaths involve 18 to 45 year olds and this causes 3 per cent loss to the GDP. Among deaths, 77,500 involve two-wheelers; 35,000 pedestrians and 10,000 happen around schools and colleges,” he said.
The minister also questioned the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) under the government for lagging in research and asked the International Road Federation to bring him a compendium of global best practices on signages and road markings.
“Bring it to me. I will sign it and please ensure not to put the knowledge of our IRC in this research…. I have exhausted my tolerance with them,” said Gadkari, giving a vote of no-confidence to local government research bodies. “The IRC is a pleasure trip organisation,” said the minister, known to speak his mind. He was lamenting his inability to check black spots despite repeated issuance of circulars to government segments to rectify mistakes.