17.75% Drop in Road Accident Rates in Chhattisgarh: Data Released by the Chhattisgarh Police

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh Police has released data regarding the rate of accidents and accident-related deaths in Chhattisgarh. “As many as 4,546 people lost their lives and 10,478 suffered injuries in 11,431 road accidents in 2020”, said the data, according to which, the rate of road accidents has decreased by 17.75% while the rate of accident-related deaths has gone down by 9.13% amongst the overall accidents taken place in the state in 2020.

The reason behind the significant decline is possibly the months-long nationwide shutdown given the pandemic situation and the restrictions on the movement of vehicles that followed.

Chhattisgarh, however, witnessed a straight rise in the rate of deaths caused by road accidents during the months of February, August, September, October, November & December, compared to the similar months in 2019.

The Special Director General of Police (Planning and Provisioning/Technical Services), R.K. Vij stated – “The statistics suggest that road accidents increased after the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted”. He further added – “Fewer accidents were reported between March and July during the lockdown. The police traffic management has been immensely helpful to bring a decline in the rate”.

The districts in Chhattisgarh that saw a rise in the rate of accidents in 2020, are Raipur, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Mungeli, Bematra, Sukma, Dantewada, Narayanpur, and Bijapur.