460 dead, 39 lakh challans issued on Chandigarh roads in over 5 years

The numbers from the challans tell one story. Those from the crash register tell another. In the five-and-a-half years between 2021 and August 2026, Chandigarh’s roads claimed 460 lives and left 932 persons injured in 1,105 road crashes, even as the city’s traffic enforcement machinery issued 39 lakh challans and collected Rs 139 crore in fine during the same period.

That translates into roughly one road death every four days and one crash every two days in the planned city of 12.5 lakh people.

Official road crash data compiled by the Chandigarh Traffic Police and accessed by The Tribune reveals a troubling pattern. After a three-year decline in road deaths between 2021 and 2023, fatalities bounced back sharply in 2024 and rose further in 2025.

In the 228 days of 2026 accounted for so far, the city has recorded 49 fatal crashes and 53 deaths. In 2021, Chandigarh recorded 208 road crashes, including 94 fatal crashes, in which 96 persons were killed and 172 injured. The following year, total crashes rose to 237 and injuries to 203, even as fatal crashes fell to 79 and deaths to 83. The decline continued in 2023. Fatal crashes fell to 64 — the lowest in the six-year period — while deaths dropped to 67, a reduction of more than 30 per cent from 2021. Total crashes also fell to 182, the lowest figure recorded during the period.

The reversal began in 2024, when fatal crashes rose to 72 and deaths to 75. In 2025, the setback was sharper, with fatal crashes climbing to 83 and deaths to 86 — almost back to 2021 levels. The total number of crashes stood at 191.

The rise in fatalities comes despite years of intensive enforcement, camera surveillance and challan issuance.

SSP (Traffic) Sumer Pratap Singh said, “Road safety is our highest priority. Every black spot is being studied and targeted with focused enforcement and engineering interventions. We urge citizens to understand that traffic rules are not about challans — they are about lives. Wear your helmet, respect the signal, do not drink and drive.”

2026: ONE DEATH EVERY FOUR DAYS

In the 228 days between January 1 and August 16, the city recorded 49 fatal crashes, 53 deaths and 96 injuries in 118 crashes.

That translates into roughly one fatal crash every 4.7 days and one road death every 4.3 days. At this pace, 2026 could see more than 85 deaths, matching the 2025 toll and remaining well above the 2023 low.

ENFORCEMENT HEAVY, SAFETY ELUSIVE

During the same period in which the city recorded 460 road deaths, the Chandigarh Traffic Police issued 39,26,545 challans and collected Rs 139.18 crore in fine.

The city’s ITMS camera network has made it one of the most heavily surveilled urban traffic spaces in India. Yet road deaths in 2025 were nearly as high as in 2021, the year before the camera network went into full operation.

The city’s vehicle population is approaching 15 lakh against a human population of 12.5 lakh, with more than 100 new vehicles being added every day.

Chandigarh has the highest per-capita vehicle density in the country, and the figure continues to rise.