Team Herald
PANJIM: The figures released by the police department and viewed from 2021 onwards, show that 272 people died on Goan roads in 2023 (see full graphic). Goa DGP Alok Kumar’s target of reducing fatal accidents by 5% would mean a reduction of a mere 14 fatal accidents.
This effectively means that the fatal accident toll of about 258 would be counted as an achievement of meeting the target. This is the reality of these figures.
Secondly, far from a reducing trend the number of fatal accidents in 2024 looks to overtake 2023. Till August 2024, 190 people have lost their lives on Goan roads. If you calculate this as fatal accidents per month, it comes to 23.75. The harsh trend mapping of this would put the fatal accidents in Goa at 285.
It gets worse when you calculate the actual deaths in these accidents which are higher than the fatal accidents. We are staring at the heard reality of at least one life lost on Goan roads each year.
However, they said the target should have been much more given the fact the State witnesses one fatal road accident daily. They said the target should have been at least 50 per cent.
Speaking to O Heraldo, Movement for Amity towards Roads in Goa (MARG) Member Secretary, Anant Agni said, “It is very nice that a target has been fixed, but strict enforcement is the most important thing that is required.”
Agni also stressed that there should be coordination among various departments for strict enforcement of the rules.
“There is zero coordination among the departments like Public Works Department (PWD), Police and Transport as far as road accidents are concerned. unless plans are enforced properly, nothing will come out,” the MARG Member Secretary said.
“The target should have been reducing the fatalities at least by 50 per cent. The target of five or ten percent is very low,” he said.
Goa Civic and Consumer Action Network (GOACAN) coordinator Ronald Martins said, “The targets are fixed by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCRS) for different line departments. Once the cameras are fixed on all MDRs, State and National Highways, the situation will improve. Additional Alco meters and speed interceptors are being ordered.”
Dilip Naik, Goa Road Safety Forum (GRSF) President, said, “As per Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, the target at the national as well as the international level is to reduce road accidents by 50 per cent, but in India the road accidents have not reduced. Because there is no strategy. Everything is on paper.”