India’s premiere show on traffic management, solutions, parking, safety, tolls and infrastructure, Traffic Infra Tech Expo 2012, was recently held in Mumbai. The expo was inaugurated by Mr. Sudhir Krishna, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, GOI. Mr. Rajiv Lochan, Director, Safety Ministry of Road Transport, Mr. Satyendra Garg, Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Delhi, Mr. Sudhir Hoshing, CEO, Roads, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. were also present at the occasion.
Mr. Jayaraman Nair, Chairman & Organiser, Traffic Infra Tech Expo said “With road and rail accidents on the rise, air schedules becoming unpredictable, water transport continuing to remain rudimentary and growing safety concerns, India’s traffic scenario is languishing at an all time low. And this is despite various reports having identified transport infrastructure as the one of the most important factors in the growth of a developing economy”.
Every year 1.2 lakh people lose their lives in road accidents. Out of this, almost 25% of the accidents take place on the state highways and about 28% on National highways on the roads. The problem is worse in developing states. The estimated figures for Andhra Pradesh are 13,700, Maharashtra at 12,600, Uttar Pradesh at 12,500, Tamil Nadu at 12,000 and Karnataka at 8,700. The number of serious injuries in road accidents is approximately 16 times more than the road fatalities whereas they are recorded only four times.
“I hope that the expo will contribute its bit towards safe and easy traffic flow in the country.” wrote Mr. R.R. Patil, Home Minister, Maharashtra State.
“Government of India has earmarked over Rs. 17,500 crores for road infrastructure development and capacity building. Foreign investors are on the rise and the government is promoting the public private partnership in infrastructure development. But due to various challenges in execution theimprovements have not been able to exploit the benefits to the fullest extent. Through the expo and discussions we hope to present the challenges and the solutions to tidy the issue.” added Mr. Nair.
Lack of stringent safety norms coupled with the reluctance of road users to follow the regulations is leading to a worsening of the situation. It has now become imperative upon India to increase safety awareness and make the best use of technology in all areas of traffic management and engineering.
Quick Infrastructure Facts:
•3.3 million kilometers of road network
•Railway network of 63,327 Km
•126 airports and 10 major ports
•12 million two and four wheeled vehicles/year
•Planned metro network of xxx kms
•Passenger traffic to grow at 12-15 % annually
•Cargo traffic to grow at 15-18 % annually
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