Noida sees 2 road accidents, one casualty every day, shows data

According to official records, the maximum number of accidents take place along expressways. Noida has a large share of expressways and state highways passing through the city.

While several departments of the Noida authority have been observing the annual road safety week, with awareness and challan drives, the result seems negligible, according to police data, which shows that traffic-related accidents and deaths are consistently on the rise.

Police said most accidents in Noida are because of speeding on high speed corridors such as expressways and state highways. (HT File Photo)

According to official records, on average, there are at least two incidents and one death every day in Noida due to road accidents. The total number of accidents in Noida was 933 in 2015 and 926 in 2016. This grew to 1,043 in 2017 and 1,067 in 2018.

The total number of fatalities in these accidents also grew, from 362 in 2015 to 382 in 2016, 423 in 2017 and 452 in 2018. A similar increase can be seen in the number of injured persons as well.

Officials said that the maximum number of accidents take place along expressways. Noida has a large share of expressways and state highways passing through the city.

“Most accidents are because of speeding on high speed corridors such as expressways and state highways. Approximately 5% of roads in Noida are highways, which is higher than the share in other cities,” Anil Kumar Jha, superintendent of police (traffic), said.

He said the increase in accidents can also be correlated with the increasing vehicular population of the city and vehicles visiting the city. He added that while the number of casualties is increasing at the rate of 6.8% in Noida, number of vehicles passing through is increasing at a rate of 20-25% every year.

“In the past few years, the condition of roads in Noida as well as across Uttar Pradesh has also improved. However, it is ironic that even as roads improved, it led to increased speed and therefore, more accidents. We are trying to deal with it by surveying the most vulnerable spots, following which we will inform people about them,” Jha said.

He said that the maximum number of traffic violations in the city is due to speeding, driving on the wrong side, and not wearing helmets and seat belts. Therefore, awareness drives during the road safety week are essential for improving driver behaviour and road discipline in Gautam Budh Nagar, he added.

Meanwhile, though several activities are planned for the ongoing road safety week, residents said such superficial activities do not help with road safety on the streets.

Residents said it would help more if officials would make changes in road design and increase enforcement activities against traffic violators.

“The e-challans may be increasing but we don’t see much impact on ground. Driving on the wrong side causes several accidents but no action is taken. Most roads see heavy traffic because of encroachment and illegal parking by vendors and auto-rickshaws. However, we don’t see action against any of these violators,” Manish Kumar, a resident of Greater Noida, said.