Potholes caused 3,564 accidents in India in 2020: Govt in Rajya Sabha

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Potholes caused 3,564 accidents in India in 2020: Govt in Rajya Sabha



The government gave the information in response to Trinamool Congress lawmaker Derek O'Brien's question on the number of road accidents due to "road engineering issues" and initiatives for road safety and the funds allocated for it

The government on Tuesday said in Rajya Sabha that 3,564 accidents took place in India due to potholes in 2020 compared to 4,775 and 4,869 in 2019 and 2018.

The road traffic movement was restricted to a large extent due to the Covid-19 lockdown in the country in 2020.

The government gave the information in response to Trinamool Congress lawmaker Derek O'Brien's question on the number of road accidents due to "road engineering issues" and initiatives for road safety and the funds allocated for it.

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"No separate data/record is maintained for an accident occurring due to road engineering (issues)," Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said.

In response to a separate by Sushil Kumar Modi, Gadkari said that toll collection has increased by three per cent. Gadkari added since 2017, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has availed external borrowing of ₹ 3,000 crore. "Further, total borrowing of NHAI has increased from ₹ 74,742 crore outstanding as of March 2017 to ₹ 306,704 crore in March 2021. The debt of NHAI as of March 31, 2021 has reached ₹ 3.07 trillion, which is up by approximately 24% from ₹ 2.49 trillion in March 2020," Gadkari said.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/potholes-caused-3-564-accidents-in-india-in-2020-govt-in-rajya-sabha-101628570659487.html