Bad road engineering leads to most accidents, rather than fault of drivers, says Gadkari

He went on to call for reducing construction costs without compromising on quality by using alternative materials and latest technology as well as completing projects on time. “The other important thing is making a 101 per cent perfect DPR without compromising on design and quality. Is this a good thing that there are five lakh accidents in the country and 1.5 lakh deaths? There is a 3 per cent GDP loss… three lakh people lose their limbs…”

Urging engineers to work towards removing the black spots to save lives, Gadkari said that while constructing roads, one should ensure that they are engineered properly to prevent accidents. “I feel that just like in a yagna, they sacrifice an animal that cannot speak for itself, in case of any accident, the driver is blamed… I have observed minutely. Many times it is the fault of road engineering. While making roads, you should worry about making roads that don’t lead to accidents,” he said.

“Many are dying. People in the age group of 18 to 34 years account for 60 per cent of accident deaths, and many of them are engineers and doctors. Is it good for the country? Can you, as engineers, work suo motu to remove the black spots? I request you all… road engineering should not be the reason behind accidents,” the minister added.

Citing one of the reasons for delay in the projects is the stay orders issued by courts, Gadkari said that the government tended to “play judge” when there was a dispute involving it (the government). He claimed that it hired “lawyers with failed practice” that caused procrastination in the case. “How can someone who is a party in the dispute be the judge? But in government everyone is equal… you have to tell the king ‘yes sir’. What the king says you have to listen… (but) if you have to give justice, then we need an independent impartial, fair system.”

He also pointed out how “to help one particular party, qualifications were changed” and that there was need for a standard policy (for tendering).

“I know about lawyers… only those who do not have a good practice come to us and we make them government lawyer… we appoint them because those who have a good practice, why should they come to us?”

Gadkari said he had commissioned a report on all Supreme Court judgments that had gone against the government and who was responsible for the same. “If the correct report on this is published… those who have caused losses worth crores to the government because of their wrong decisions are still in service and are repeating those very mistakes…”

Gadkari further said that to make a project cost-effective, the most important thing is to reduce the cost of construction. Advising against falling into the “trap of felling trees”, he said that National Highways Authority of India has transplanted 78,000 trees. “We have to protect the environment, recycle materials and reduce the construction cost while not compromising on quality,” he said.