In a bid to reduce road accidents, the central government will appoint a private consultant under public private partnership (PPP) model, the Road Transport, Highways and MSME minister Nitin Gadkari said. There is a need for a PPP model for an intelligent traffic system, Gadkari added.
“This is the time we should go for PPP (public private partnership) model in transportation…We will appoint a private consultant, a good reputed company to study how we can make PPP model in transport system particularly in Intelligent Transport System (ITS) at state level, municipal corporation level and the National Highways level,”the minister said while addressing a webinar on road safety organised by non-profit body Consumer Voice.
An ITS comprises centralised control centres, closed tolling systems which also include components like CCTV, weather monitoring, variable message signs, advanced communication system, traffic management, simulation, digital services driven by AI among others to streamline traffic.
A tender will be released soon in this regard, he added.
The minister also expressed confidence that road accidents and related 1.5 lakh deaths per annum would be reduced by 50% by 2025 against the target of 2030.
“We are working on fast track mode to achieve the goal with the cooperation of all stakeholders especially the state governments,” he said.
India, on an average, witnesses about 5 lakh road accidents per annum in which about 1.5 lakh people die and about 3 lakh are crippled.
The minister said he has taken lot of initiatives to reduce road accidents including correcting black spots or spots witnessing a high number of accidents due to bad road designing or other road engineering or related flaws.
Gadkari also called upon Members of Parliament who are chairing District Road Committees to identify black spots and pursue their redressal.
He highlighted that black spots need to be identified on state and municipal roads where the cooperation of public, state governments, MLAs, MPs etc is of paramount importance. The minister also called for public movement by social awareness and education, improving emergency services, pressing for medical facilities etc in the country besides seeking cooperation of the automobile industry in marching closer to achieving its road safety targets.
He added that the World Bank and the ADB are providing ₹7,000 crore each for removing black spots from national highways.
“We have already identified black spots on national highways. India has already spent ₹20,000 crore on removing the black spots,” Gadkari said.
