AP Transport, Road and Buildings Minister Siddha Raghava Rao claims that the state government is serious about addressing the issue of accident prone spots in the state. The minister said an action plan with Rs 150 Cr was prepared to make the state an accident free one. But, the minister and his department is yet to walk the talk.
Hyderabad: State Transport, Road and Buildings Minister Siddha Raghava Rao seems to be the best bet for being a minister of all reviews and no work. Despite hundreds of people are getting killed in the road accidents, there seems hardly any remedial measures being taken up by the State Road and Buildings department to address the issue of Black Spots (accident prone places), in the state.
The incident of a car in which six members of a family plunged into River Godavari in Eat Godavari district has once again brought to the fore the shabby way the Road and Buildings department has been functioning in the state.
The minister has been reviewing the status and progress of accident prone Black Spots in the state since the time he had assumed to the office 18 months ago. But, all that the department had ended up was conducting a survey on Black Spots.
According to department sources, the state has got the dubious distinction of nearly 23,000 road accidents taking place in the state per year. Out of a total number of 1,091 accident prone spots are identified the East Godavari district has the highest number of 188 Black Spots. The Guntur district stands second with 150 Black Spots. What the department has done so far was classifying the accident prone zones into A, B and C categories, depending on the number of deaths took places in those places. Though a proposal had been mooted to implement an action plan with Rs 150 Cr to address the issue of accident prone zones in the state. The minister had earlier announced to implement the scheme within next six months. But, time and again, except conducting a review on the Black Spots, and dishing out press releases, claiming that the government has all set to make the state as an accident free one, the minister, and his department is yet to walk the talk, says a police official, privy to the process of making of the report on Black Spots in the state.
