Road safety audit flags 20 engineering flaws at Gurugram crash hotspots

Inspections covered Panchgaon, Golf Course Road and NH-48 corridors. A detailed report with short- and long-term measures will go before the DRSC.

A road safety audit highlighted poor illumination, unauthorised opening of median dividers and missing retro reflective road markings at key crash-prone locations in Gurugram, officials said on Monday.

The preliminary findings were shared during the second round of inspection under the district’s zero fatalities initiative by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

A committee of road safety experts, including deputy commissioner of police (Traffic) Prateek Gehlot, inspected locations at Panchgaon, Sector 53/54, 42/43 and 31 intersections on July 21. Earlier inspections were carried out in February at Delhi-Gurugram (NH-48) expressway connecting corridors at Jharsa, Atlas, Iffco and Sector 33 intersections.

At Panchgaon Chowk, teams found unpaved median openings near Fauji Dhaba and recommended streetlights, reflective road markings, crash barriers, more signages and speed-calming measures at the Sector 30/31 intersection, added officials.

Officials said wrong-side driving, poor lane discipline and jaywalking by people from nearby industrial sectors were among major the major reasons for accidents.

The audit also recommended safe pedestrian crossings and geometrical improvements along road dividers to prevent sharp and illegal turns.

Data presented before the DRSC showed that a large share of crashes occurred on the Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) section of the interchange, making it the first such review to examine accident patterns, said traffic police officials.

Similar issues, such as overspeeding, wrong-side driving and unsafe pedestrian crossings, were identified at Sector 53/54 junction on Golf Course Road and near Sector 31 junction. The audit identified 20 recurring engineering issues, including damaged or missing crash barriers, absent pavement markings, improper pedestrian infrastructure, untreated intersections, narrow shoulders, missing signboards, unauthorised parking and inadequate lighting.

Officials said a detailed report recommending short and long-term safety measures will be presented before the district’s road safety committee meeting. The committee also reviewed road safety conditions at Bilaspur, Binola, Panchgaon, Narsinghpur, Sector 31, Manesar Ghati and Ghamroj, among others.

Officials said over speeding, rash and wrong-side driving were among the main reasons for accidents at Ghamroj Toll Plaza, Vatika Chowk, and Manesar Ghati.

While three people died in sixteen accidents at Rampura Chowk and Ghamroj Toll Plaza last year, fatalities at Vatika Chowk and Manesar Ghati increased from none in 2023 to eleven last year, respectively. A mapping exercise of crash-prone spots at the identified black spots was conducted in May.