The number of accidents in Maharashtra`s Raigad district decreased in 2023 compared to the previous year but the number of deaths has risen, a police official said on Thursday.

While 2022 saw 724 accidents and 276 deaths, the number of accidents in 2023 was 700 but the deaths stood at 281, he said.

In 2018, 302 persons died in 1098 accidents, while in 2019, a total of 991 accidents took place and the casualty figure stood at 216, newswire PTI reported.

In 2020, a total of 206 persons died in 596 accidents, while these figures were 688 and 236, respectively, in 2021, the official said quoting district data.

Since calendar year 2018, several accidents have taken place on the expressway and highway stretches that pass through the district, he said.

The Raigad stretch of Mumbai-Pune Expressway saw 853 accidents and 237 deaths since in the last six years.

The Mumbai-Pune national highway number 4 saw 413 accidents and 150 deaths, while the figures for Mumbai-Goa national highway number 66 were 1,389 and 411, respectively, the official said.

“During this period, 1102 accidents took place on state highways in the district, leading to 394 deaths. There were 902 accidents on other roads of Raigad, which resulted in 289 deaths,” he said.

As many as 15,224 people have died in road accidents in 2022. Raising an issue on the last of winter session, MLC Satyajeet Tambe said the quality of the newly-opened Samruddhi Expressway is not uniform which could be a leading cause of accidents.

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“The work was done in 14 phases between Nagpur and Ghoti. With 14 different contractors doing the job, the quality of work has varied enormously. While in some phases the cars go smoothly, in some areas the car almost flies off the ground. This is also a major reason why accidents occur on the highway. The question is: will the government try to standardise the quality of the highway and whether they will put a patch-like coating on the entire road that will even it out,” Tambe said in the council.

Tambe also blamed police and RTO staff for suddenly appearing in front of the vehicles that lead to further accidents. “In order to catch drivers flouting rules, they suddenly appear from behind the trees or diversions and turns thereby startling the drivers. Due to this, the driver either puts sudden brakes or accelerates further out of fear. This leads to many accidents. Are they on a prowl to hunt violators?” he asked.

State Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai assured that directions will be given to the Road Development Corporation to check the quality of the roads. “Apart from that, instructions will be given to the Highway Police Superintendent and Transport Commissioner that the police should stand at a place where the motorists can see them and not suddenly come in front of the motorists and stop them,” said Desai. (With inputs from PTI)

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