A figure of 1,60,000 deaths on national highways alone within a year is a worrying phenomenon.
The Supreme Court, through its new judgment, has made the safety of human life on highways a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Through this judgment, the apex court has placed the direct responsibility of preventing accidents on national and state highways on the central or state governments and has said that in case of deaths in such accidents, the compensation should be sufficient to be fair and also to save the family of the deceased from suffering.
A bench comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.S. Chandrukar said that although the length of National Highways is only 2 per cent of the total roads in the country, 30 per cent of the total deaths in road accidents occur on these highways. Therefore, this issue should be considered very seriously at the Central and State levels. It is true that the number of deaths on National Highways during the year 2025 has decreased compared to the same number in the previous five years, yet the figure of 1,60,000 deaths on National Highways alone within just one year is a worrying phenomenon. Effective measures to reduce such figures should be taken very seriously by the Central Government as well as the State Governments.
This decision of the Supreme Court seems very important and relevant in view of the number of 239 deaths on the highways during the last one week (Tuesday and Monday). The worst accident took place in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir. According to media reports, a private bus, which was overloaded, lost control after hitting an auto-rickshaw and fell 100 feet down. Due to this, 29 deaths were confirmed by the district administration till Tuesday evening. The number of injured is also being said to be around 45. Similarly, the news of 43 deaths in two separate accidents in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is also no less horrifying in itself.
The apex court expressed concern over the fact that no national-level strategy has been put in place to reduce the number of fatal road accidents, especially on toll roads. Such a strategy should have been a basic part of highway planning. It has therefore said that it is the responsibility of the government to develop a road infrastructure that is effective in reducing accidents. The accountability of the central or state agencies responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads should be fixed so that they can be held accountable for shortcomings such as defects in construction or lack of maintenance and the work of removing the defects should be completed in a time-bound manner.
The road infrastructure in India is mainly under the control of government agencies. Very few roads, especially highways, are owned by private companies or entities. Therefore, it is the primary responsibility of the government to maintain the road infrastructure in a good condition for public transport. Despite the network of roads being laid across the country in the name of infrastructure development, the system for regulating traffic on these roads is still minimal. Similarly, there is no dearth of such places or road sections which do not have information boards like 'accident prone places' installed around them.
Such boards are an indication of the lack of meticulousness in the construction and planning of roads. The construction of roads and bridges should be done by strictly following the principles of geometry, not according to the whims and interests of politicians and corrupt politicians. Similarly, there should be no sloppiness in the deployment of those who control drunk driving on highways, strictly enforce traffic rules, ensure compliance with speed limits and ensure medical assistance to the injured in case of accidents. National highways are the arteries of national development. Attention should also be paid to their health like the maintenance of the highways.
