696 people killed in road accidents since 2021 in Tripura

Despite statewide massive awareness and various initiatives to curb road traffic accidents, the death toll due to road mishaps is unabated and altogether 696 people were killed in the last three years.

As per the report tabled in the winter session of Tripura Legislative Assembly, a total of 1,631 road traffic accident cases were registered in different police stations of the state during the last three years 2021, 2022 and 2023 and as many as 696 people have been killed in the state since 2021.

According to a report of the state Home department, at least 90,000 vehicles plied on Tripura roads every month between 2020-2022.

In these three years till 2023, a total of 1,631 road traffic mishap cases were lodged at different police stations in the state in which 1,697 people sustained injuries.

Earlier in 2022, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha launched the first 24x7 national highway patrol vehicle service to function from West district till Sabroom, Sepahijala and Gomati district to reduce road mishaps in highways.

According to a report of the state home department, at least 90,000 vehicles plied on Tripura roads every month between 2020-2022 and another 10,000 vehicles from other states entered the state during the same period.

In December, 2024 Tripura government intensified efforts to eliminate road traffic accidents in the state, which annually records approximately 750 incidents resulting in 250 fatalities, Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said on December 23.

Speaking at the 15th meeting of the State Road Safety Council at the Secretariat in Agartala city, Chowdhury emphasized the government’s commitment to reducing accidents to zero and stressed on the objective is to bring down road accidents and fatalities to zero through public awareness and preventive measures.

He said that several initiatives have been undertaken at both the Central and state levels to address this issue and the measures include deploying sophisticated traffic management equipment and interceptor vehicles. Additionally, a provision of Rs 5,000 as the Good Samaritan award has been introduced to encourage individuals to assist accident victims promptly.

Public awareness campaigns have also been launched across 25 colleges in Tripura to educate students on road safety, consumer protection, and the dangers of drug use. And these initiatives have been going on across government colleges through different awareness programmes.

Referring to directives from the Supreme Court Road Safety Committee, Chowdhury said the government has been tasked with reducing road accident fatalities by 10% annually. “As a result of various measures, the state’s road accident death rate declined by 13% in 2024 compared to 2023,” he revealed.