Shimla district witnessed maximum number of road accidents till June, rash driving main reason

Navneet Rathore

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Shimla, July 25

The state witnessed a 7.62 per cent decline in road accident cases during the first half of 2024 compared to the number of accidents in the last four years. From January 1 to June 30 this year, 412 persons lost their lives in 1,063 accidents. The figures are slightly less compared to 2023, when the state had recorded a total of 446 deaths in 1,147 mishaps.

Similarly, a total of 520 persons had lost their lives in 1,235 road accidents in the first half of 2022, while 546 had lost their lives in 1,065 accidents in the first half of 2021. Of the total number of accidents recorded in the first half of this year in various police districts, 163 mishaps (the highest in the state) were reported in Shimla. It is followed by 137 in Mandi, 114 in Una, 117 in Kangra, 97 in Sirmour, 92 in Solan, 74 in Kullu, 71 in Bilaspur, 51 in Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh (BBN), 46 in Chamba, 44 in Hamirpur, 41 in Nurpur, 12 in Kinnaur and two in Lahaul and Spiti district.

Talking to The Tribune, Gurdev Chand, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Traffic Tourism and Railways (TTR), said the police had been taking effective measures to reduce road accidents in the state. He said the main reason behind such accidents was rash and negligent driving. “The majority of the vehicles involved in accidents are four-wheeler light motor vehicles,” he added.

“In order to prevent such accidents, we had identified 97 black spots across the state. These were then reported to the department concerned for their rectification. We have also opted for an intelligent traffic management system (ITMS), which has helped reduce the rate of accidents across the state,” said the DIG.

He further said that the Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project for India — funded by the World Bank — was being implemented to enhance the efficiency of the transportation and road safety institutions across the state.

“The project has three components — building Himachal’s transportation institutions; creating a corporate entity responsible for administration of the strategic core road network, major district roads and district roads; and maintaining the national highways,” he elaborated.