The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report, 2023, has delivered a reminder of Punjab’s road safety crisis. The report reveals that Punjab ranks as the third most fatal state in the country in road accident fatalities, only behind Mizoram and Bihar while Ludhiana has emerged as the fourth deadliest city in India after Nasik, Agra and Asansol.
The statistics are staggering. Out of 504 reported road accidents in Ludhiana, 402 people lost their lives, reflecting an 80% fatality rate. Across Punjab, 6,276 accidents claimed 4,906 lives, which means nearly eight out of 10 crashes end in death.
The city has witnessed a 7.9% spike in road mishaps in 2023 as compared to 2022. In 2022 a total of 467 road mishaps were reported on the city roads in which 174 people had suffered injuries and 364 had lost their lives. Ludhiana had witnessed 478 road mishaps in 2021, in which 380 people had lost their lives with 169 persons suffering injuries.
According to the report, 261 deaths were reported in 261 road mishaps in Nasik with 100% fatality rate. Agra has 88.78% fatality rate as 491 deaths were reported in 553 road mishaps. Similarly, 339 deaths were reported in 401 road mishaps in Asansol, with 84.53%.
The report also suggested that two wheeler riders were more prone to road mishaps in Ludhiana city. Out of 402 victims of road mishaps 50% victims were two-wheeler riders. 126 pedestrians were also killed on the roads in 2023.
Road safety expert Dr Kamal Soi said that these figures cannot be reduced to numbers. “They are fathers who never returned home, mothers whose children are now orphans, and young lives that ended before they even began. Ludhiana, my own city, has now earned the shameful tag of being one of India’s most dangerous cities to drive in. As a Punjabi, my heart bleeds; as a road safety expert, I am alarmed. This is nothing less than a massacre on the roads of Punjab.”