New Delhi: The authorities concerned must be responsible for every accident on the road, the Transport Minister Union Nitin Gadkari at a conference organized by the World Bank on how to get personal finance for road security.
Contrary to government reports, who claim that more than 70% crashes are caused by driver errors, Gadkari says defects in road engineering are responsible for at least 50% of crashes.
“I fully agree that there must be responsibility and accountability of the authority concerned for each accident on each road,” he said, adding that there is a need to investigate every right collision to find the right reason.
Gadkari said, there was a design error from the Project Report (DPR) detail stage.
The minister said while insurance companies around the world have contributed significantly to reduce road death because they are the greatest beneficiaries of lack of accidents, these players do not show interest in this sector in India.
He supports plans for 100 ‘zero fatality stretches’ in this country.
One that has been developed in Delhi where death has reduced dramatically.
Gadkari asked the private sector entity to advance for the development of social bonds to fund road safety projects in this country.
He said the corpus produced through social contributions can be used to finance projects such as zero fatality corridors.
Funds raised through social bonds are used for new and existing projects that have positive social outcomes.
“The idea that was conveyed to me about private capital mobilization through social bonds, bonds related to sustainability and CSR fund collection can be used widely for efforts to increase road safety …
I urge all private sector entities to pro-actively advance for the development of social bonds, “He said.