Lok Sabha Question No. 66 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-01-29
Subject: Safety Norms on NHs
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Shri Manickam Tagore B, Shri Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 66

ANSWERED ON 29 TH JANUARY, 2026

## SAFETY NORMS ON NHs

66. Shri Manickam Tagore B: Shri Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth:

## Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  acknowledges  that  the  absence  of continuous service roads on National Highways (NHs) forces dangerous U-turns, illegal crossings, unsafe mixing of local traffic i.e. pedestrians  and  two-wheelers  with  high-speed  highway  traffic  and wrong-side  driving,  thereby  making  these  highways  unsafe  for  both local commuters and long-distance traffic, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any concrete accountability measures have been imposed on  engineers,  consultants  and  contractors  of  the  National  Highways Authority of India whose flawed highway designs have converted key economic  corridors  into  accident-prone  and  fear-inducing  stretches and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the data on accidents, grievous injuries and fatalities at identified black spots, year-wise and location-wise indicating the number of lives lost prior to the initiation of corrective measures, State-wise, particularly in Tamil Nadu;
- (d) whether a number of accident-prone zones on National Highways in Tamil  Nadu  and  other  States  remain  unidentified  and  whether  the Government continues to rely largely on post-fatality data instead of

proactive, scientific road safety audits and if so, the reasons therefor; and

(e)  whether pedestrian underpasses, vehicular underpasses and light vehicular  underpasses  were  omitted  at  the  initial  stage  of  highway construction and undertaken subsequently only after fatalities, protests  and  media  reports,  despite  evidence  of  heavy  pedestrian movement near hospitals, markets, bus stops schools and residential clusters along these highways and if so, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

(a) National  Highways (NHs)  works are carried out  as per standards, guidelines, manual, code of practice of Indian Roads Congress as well as  specifications  for  Road  and  Bridge  Works.  Necessary  road  safety measures inter-alia include provision of service roads, median openings,  merging  and  diverging  facilities, crash  barriers,  signage boards, foot over bridges, etc. are invariably part of the  NHs works.  Further, Road Safety Audit is carried out for the independent assessment  of  newly  constructed  roads  before  opening  them  to commercial  traffic.  All  identified  road  safety  issues,  including  those related to road signage and markings, are addressed before the road is opened to the public. Subsequently, during the operation of the project highway,  assessment  is  carried  out  at  regular  intervals  to  identify safety issues that may have emerged during operation stage and any necessary  remedial  measures  are  taken  in  a  time-bound  manner. Besides  this,  accident  data  on  all  NHs  is  monitored  on  a  pan-India basis through the eDAR portal (Electronic Detailed Accident Report), and accident spots are identified. Necessary remedial action on these identified accident spots, preventing them from converting to blackspots are immediately taken up.

- (b)  All  the  accident  spots  are  duly  studied  and  remedial  measures including  improvement  proposals  are  invariably  part  of  the  Detailed Project Report (DPR). Further outcome of the Road Safety Audit is also incorporated  in  the  DPR.  Thereafter  also,  if  any  flaw  in  design  is noticed  at  the  construction  stage,  then  the  same  gets  rectified alongwith  the  penal  action  on  the  DPR  consultants.  For  any  flaw  in construction, action is taken on the Independent Engineers/ Authority Engineers  /contractors  /  concessionaires  as  per  the  provisions  of contract agreement.
- (c)  State-wise details of accidents including fatalities on all the black spots  in  the  country  including  the  state  of  Tamilnadu  at  time  of

identification is Annexed. (d)  Government has launched the Electronic Detailed Accident Report System  with  online  reporting  facilities  of  accidents  in  the  country including  Tamilnadu.  This  enables  immediately  noticing  the  accident spots. Accordingly, such spots which are on National Highways (NHs) are  visited  immediately  by  field  officers  and  appropriate  short  term measures  are  taken.  Long  term  rectification  works  are  undertaken after detailed study as these includes improvement of road geometrics,  junction  improvements,  spot  widening  of  carriageway, construction of underpasses/overpasses etc. Further as a proactive measure, Road Safety Audit (RSA) on NHs has been  made  mandatory  through  third  party  auditors/experts  at  all stages  i.e.  design,  construction,  operation  and  maintenance  etc.  As per outcome of the report, corrective measures are undertaken. preparation of detailed project report as per traffic

(e) The  provisions  of  pedestrian  underpasses,  vehicular  underpasses and  light  vehicular  underpasses  are  invariably  made  at  the  time  of density, pedestrians' movement and site requirement.

ANNEXURE  REFERED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (C)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 66 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29TH JANUARY, 2026 ASKED BY SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B & SHRI VIJAYAKUMAR ALIAS VIJAY VASANTH REGARDING SAFETY NORMS ON NHs.

| STATE               |   Number of Fatalities |   Number of Accidents |
|---------------------|------------------------|-----------------------|
| Andaman and Nicobar |                      8 |                    20 |
| Andhra Pradesh      |                   7689 |                 13572 |
| Arunachal Pradesh   |                     38 |                   121 |
| Assam               |                   2053 |                  2958 |
| Bihar               |                   3488 |                  3850 |
| Chandigarh          |                     48 |                    58 |
| Chhattisgarh        |                   1704 |                  2138 |
| Daman & Diu         |                      5 |                     5 |
| Delhi               |                   1334 |                  4329 |
| Goa                 |                    222 |                   537 |
| Gujarat             |                   2964 |                  4396 |
| Haryana             |                   1287 |                  1958 |
| Himachal Pradesh    |                    812 |                  1821 |
| Jammu & Kashmir     |                    706 |                  2603 |
| Jharkhand           |                   1648 |                  2002 |
| Karnataka           |                   7391 |                 16220 |
| Kerala              |                   1973 |                 16296 |
| Ladakh              |                     56 |                   169 |
| Madhya Pradesh      |                   5421 |                  9116 |
| Maharashtra         |                   4125 |                  6175 |
| Manipur             |                     59 |                   327 |
| Meghalaya           |                    192 |                  1057 |
| Mizoram             |                     17 |                    15 |
| Nagaland            |                     47 |                   798 |
| Odisha              |                   3454 |                  6483 |
| Puducherry          |                    335 |                   860 |
| Punjab              |                   5204 |                  6654 |
| Rajasthan           |                   8712 |                 12586 |
| Sikkim              |                     78 |                   239 |
| Tamil Nadu          |                   8487 |                 23841 |

| Telangana     |   5342 |   12381 |
|---------------|--------|---------|
| Tripura       |     88 |     236 |
| Uttar Pradesh |  11865 |   17182 |
| Uttarakhand   |    686 |     643 |
| West Bengal   |   5978 |   10824 |

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