Terming Indian roads "giant killers" demanding immediate attention and remedial action, the Supreme Court Tuesday appointed a three-member committee to scrutinise and monitor enforcement of statutory provisions including the Motor Vehicles Act for making roads safer.
"Indian roads have proved to be giant killers demanding immediate attention and remedial action. Such attention and necessary intervention, in the first instance, is required to be made by the concerned governmental agencies," said a bench of Chief Justice P.Sathasivam, Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice N.V.Ramana in their judgment.
Favouring four-dimensional approach - of enforcement, engineering, education and emergency care - to make roads safe, the court constituted a three-member committee comprising Justice K.S.Radhakrishnan, former surface transport secretary S.Sunder and ex-chief scientist of the Central Road Research Institute.
The court said that the central and state governments were expected to enforce the existing laws including with all the might at their command.
It directed all the state governments and authorities concerned, engaged in the multi-dimensional approach pertaining to road safety, to submit their first report to the Committee within three months.
The report would indicate the state of implementation and enforcement of all the laws in respect of the licensing, fitness of vehicles, limits on the passenger and weight carrying capacity and other aspects including the deployment of adequate manpower for enforcement of the existing provisions of law.
Directing the road transport and highways ministry to forthwith notify the composition of the committee, the court said that the central as well as the state governments shall also indicate their views on "the necessity of further change in the law, if any".
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The committee, the apex court said, would indicate its views on each of the matters referred to it including the deficiencies or default on the part of any of the stake holders as it may find in the course of its scrutiny.
The court alo said: "All existing laws and norms including the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, as in force, are required to be implemented in the right earnest and with all vigour by the authorities responsible for their implementation."
Noting that number of road accidents and the consequent casualties has registered a disturbing increase over China, Justice Gogoi, speaking for the bench, said: "In this regard, it would require specific mention that while the death rate in China, which had stood at par with India at a certain point of time, has shown a significant downward trend while in case of India the said figures have shown a disturbing increase."
The total number of accidents in China in 2004 stood at 517,889 compared to India's 429,910 but in 2009, China's figures dipped to 238,351 while rising to 486,384 in India. Similarly, in 2004, the number of people killed in road accidents in China was 107,077 and for India, the number was 92,616. In 2009, the deaths in China came down to 67,759 while in India, they rose to 125,660.