New Delhi: Expressing concern over rising road accidents, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India accounts for about 11 per cent of the total road accidents in the world and is no less than a silent epidemic. Addressing the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) through video conferencing, the Union Defence Minister said, "The increasing road accidents are a matter of great concern for us today. It is surprising that our country has less than 3 percent of the world's total vehicles, but accidents are close to 11 percent."

Rajnath Singh visited the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) headquarters in New Delhi on Friday. During this period, he launched 'Centre of Excellence for Roads, Bridges, Airspace and Tunnels' and 'Centre of Excellence for Road Safety and Awareness'. In the meantime, he said that these centres complement each other in their objectives. Singh said that since its inception, BRO has been playing an important role in the development of the country by constructing roads, tunnels and other infrastructure in remote areas.

Expressing concern over road accidents, Singh said, "Most people do not be as careful as they should". "There are 4.5 to 5 lakh accidents and 1.5 lakh unfortunate deaths every year in the country," he said. This is no less than a silent epidemic. I believe that these centres will play an important role in all the steps taken by the government to deal with all these steps, such as the approval of the National Road Safety Policy, the Motor Vehicles Act, 2020, the identification of black spots on the National Highway, etc."

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