To bring down deaths, safety must get highest priority while constructing roads: Gadkari

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday drew attention to the rising number of road accidents and consequent deaths and stressed giving safety the highest priority while constructing pathways in the country.

Gadkari said if anyone dies in an accident due to road engineering fault in the future, then he will be guilty of it.

Highlighting the Centre's efforts to prevent road accidents at an event in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur, he urged government engineers to quit their jobs and start a good DPR (detailed project report) making company, assuring them to give work on a priority basis.

Addressing the 83rd annual session of the Indian Roads Congress at Pt Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium, Gadkari emphasised the production of bitumen and CNG from stubble in agriculture-dominated Chhattisgarh, arguing the move will cut dependence on fossil fuels and check pollution.

He announced a slew of road projects for Chhattisgarh and said he believes the state will have a road network similar to that of America in the next two years.

"Every year 1.50 lakh deaths due to road accidents are reported which has now increased to 1.68 lakh. Efforts are on to improve the shortcomings in road engineering and automobile engineering but defective DPR has created a major problem," the minister maintained.

He advised government engineers to quit their jobs and start a good DPR-making company.

"We have been making serious efforts to prevent road accidents. Nearly 60% of victims of road accidents are aged between 18 to 34 years. I would like to urge you to build roads where no accidents take place (due to defective engineering works)," he said.

Improvement in road engineering will curb accidents and save lives, the minister asserted.

"We have made rules in automobile engineering. If anyone dies in an accident due to road engineering in the future, then I will feel that I am guilty of it," he told participants at the event.

Pointing at the gathering of officials and engineers, the minister said no tenders should be issued without carefully examining DPR for projects.

Road safety should be given the highest priority to prevent accident deaths, he added.

Gadkari emphasised the significance of waste-to-energy technologies and urged Chhattisgarh to work on producing CNG and bitumen using paddy straw.

The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, have developed bio-bitumen from paddy straw and it is being used in Meghalaya, he told the gathering.

"It (paddy straw) can be used up to 35% in bitumen. The country's requirement for bitumen is 90 lakh metric tonnes and the capacity of the refinery is 40-50 lakh metric tonnes. We are importing 50 lakh metric tonnes," Gadkari said.

If Chhattisgarh starts producing bitumen from stubble, it will be a waste-to-wealth move, he said.

Similarly, 400 projects for producing bio-CNG and bio-LNG from paddy straw have started in Punjab and Haryana. If Chhattisgarh will do the same, no petrol and diesel will be required in the state, the Union minister opined.

Gadkari underlined the need to develop a robust infrastructure to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India).