Despite lockdown, Ghaziabad roads nearly as deadly as Covid in April and May

Ghaziabad: Over 300 people were killed on Ghaziabad roads in April and May this year.
The figure is only slightly less than the Covid toll, despite the district being in lockdown for the consecutive months.
According to official figures, as many as 310 lives were lost in Ghaziabad in road accidents in the two months, only marginally less than the 343 lives claimed by Covid in the same period.
If that data itself does not raise concerns, it is also worth noting that as many as 453 people (official toll) have succumbed to Covid in Ghaziabad so far, but in comparison, this year alone has seen 524 fatalities in road crashes — as per data accessed from the traffic department.
“The number of accident deaths were very high despite the restrictions on vehicular movement. It’s not a thumb rule that fewer vehicles on roads are a guarantee for fewer accidents. It takes just one or two major accidents to spike the number of deaths,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, SP (traffic).
In the first five months of 2021 (January to May), 1,044 road accidents were reported in Ghaziabad — in which, 524 people lost their lives while 551 were injured. Meanwhile, April and May proved to be particularly deadly with 293 and 334 accidents, respectively. There were 143 deaths in April and 167 in May.
Interestingly, the number of fatalities saw an increase from last year as well. In 2020, during the same period, the district had reported 983 road accidents in which 427 people lost their lives and 668 were injured. In 2019, between January and May, there were 1,069 accidents in which 438 people died while 790 people were injured.
“The data from January to May suggests that the number of accidents has been more or less the same but the number of deaths has increased,” added Kushwaha.
The traffic department in Ghaziabad had identified at least 15 black spots (prone to accidents), out of which five are in Sahibabad and the rest are on the national and state highways. “These black spots have claimed 254 lives in the first five months of the year,” said Kushwaha. “We have also suggested measures and road design rectifications at these black spots to the departments concerned and hope that the issues are addressed as soon as possible,” added Kushwaha.