Panipat witnessed 9% rise in deaths in accidents in 2024
Panipat district witnessed around 11 per cent more accidents in 2024 in comparison to 2023 while the mortality rate in accidents also recorded a 9 per cent increase in comparison to 2023. Now, the traffic wing of the district police has decided to take measures to reduce accidents cases and also tighten the noose around violators of traffic rules.
As per data, a total of 570 accidents were reported in 2024 and in 2023, the district recorded 516 accidents i.e. 54 more accidents were recorded in the district in 2024.
As many as 308 persons lost their lives while 315 sustained injuries in accidents in 2024. The number of deaths was almost nine per cent more in comparison to the accidental deaths in 2023.
The district had witnessed a total of 282 deaths while 317 were injured in 516 mishaps on roads in 2023.
However, the police claimed that several programmes were organised to make people aware of traffic rules. Besides, they said that they also launched strict campaigns to stop the wrong-lane driving and heavily challaned traffic rule violators.
As per data, the police had challaned 14,812 vehicles for wrong-lane driving and collected Rs 84.07 lakh as fine from violators. The police challaned 452 vehicles for over-speeding and collected Rs 5.34 lakh as fine, challaned 1,937 vehicles for wrong-side driving and collected Rs 48.23-lakh fine, 2,803 challaned for driving without helmet and a fine of Rs 20.21 lakh was collected, 754 challaned for triple-riding on two-wheelers and fine of Rs 6.31 lakh was collected, 749 challaned for driving without seat belt and Rs 6.63-lakh fine collected, 5,604 challaned for not having number plate and Rs 24.28 lakh collected as fine, 7,228 challaned for using without pattern number plate and Rs 37.91 lakh fine collected from the violators among challans.
Suresh Saini, DSP Traffic, said that several black spots – Nangal kheri, Dahar chowk, near Pearl Dhaba, near Malik Petrol Pump and near the Nexa showroom on the NH-44 -- had been identified in the district to reduce accidents.
Apart from it, height of grills on both the sides of the road near Nangal Kheri village on the NH-44 has been increased and in the next step, the height of grills would be increased near Barsat road on both sides of the NH-44, so that no pedestrian can cross the elevated highway by jumping the grills, the DSP said.
Special awareness campaigns have also been launched in factories to advise labourers not to cross roads by jumping grills and use the foot over bridge instead. Quiz competitions being organised to educate children from Classes I to XII, he said.
The DSP said said all illegal openings on highways, which were facilitated by hotels, banquets or other commercial institute owners, had been closed.
SP Lokender Singh said that Panipat was surrounded by highways and the maximum number of accidents reported on the highways here.
The main reason behind the accidents was negligence during the driving- over speed, without seat belt, without helmet, wrong side driving, wrong lane driving etc. Apart from it, Panipat is an industrial town and in the morning and evening scores of people crossed the NH-44 by jumping railings on both sides of the road on elevated highway.
Special campaign was launched to tighten the noose over the traffic rule violators on NH-44, especially those who were driving in wrong lanes, he said. As many as 58 cases have been registered in the last year against such violators, said the DSP.
"We are also planning to install CCTV cameras on all sensitive points and have written to the NHAI to improve the black spots identified by our team," said the SP.
