The government has created an online portal that will collect data on road accidents and deaths across the country. The need to establish the central repository arose after the data on road fatalities reported by the two central agencies – Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) – showed discrepancies in figures over the last few years.
The NCRB’s annual ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India’ report earlier this month showed 1,71,100 accident deaths in the country in 2022. But the ministry’s report, released in October, said 1,68,491 road accident deaths took place in the same year.
Not just for 2022, but since the last few years, there have been differences in the number of road accidents and deaths reported by the two bodies.
The road ministry said the data provided in the report are sourced from the police departments of states and Union Territories collected on calendar year basis in standardised formats as provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific under the Asia Pacific Road Accident Database project.
The NCRB said the information given in its report were obtained from states/UTs Police, and it has only compiled and collated the data and presented it in the form of a report.
What is e-DAR?
The portal was part of the National Road Safety Policy, approved by the Union Cabinet in 2010. The policy outlines the initiatives to be framed and taken by the government at all levels to improve road safety in India.
Among the key aspects of the policy was a Road Safety Information Database, which will provide assistance to states, UTs and local bodies to “improve the quality of crash investigation and of data collection, transmission and analysis”.
“The electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) Project has been initiated to establish a central repository for reporting, management and analysis of road accidents data across the country,” MoRTH informed a parliamentary standing committee earlier this month.
The committee, headed by Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy, suggested that the ministry may review the progress made regarding the implementation of the National Road Safety Policy, 2010.
“The ministry may make necessary modifications in the same and lay stress on technological measures that can be employed to lower road accidents in the country. It may also look into the reasons for the consistent increase in accident severity over the years,” it added.
In its report ‘Road Accidents in India’, the ministry said will collect accident data through Integrated Road Accidents (iRAD)/(e-DAR) projects to provide a real-time causative analysis of road accidents in line with the international practice.
“iRAD/ eDAR will generate various types of insights by analysing the collected road accident data across the country through implementation of data analytics techniques. The system will also help in the formulation of new policies and strategies based on the collected data. The outcome of the project will be enhanced road safety for all,” a Ministry official said, demanding anonymity.
How Will It Work?
There is a mobile application for police personnel where they have to enter details about a road accident. They have to upload photos and videos as well. There is a unique ID for a particular incident, the official explained.
The details of the accident will reach an engineer from the Public Works Department (PWD) or the local body in the form of an alert on their mobile. The officials will visit the accident spot and examine it. They will record the road design and check if the road condition has any role in the accident. The project has been designed with the help of IIT-Madras and National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated.
“A database will be created with these details and will be analysed by a team at IIT-M. They will suggest if corrective measures in road design need to be taken,” the official added.
The World Bank is providing financial assistance for the nearly Rs 260 crore project. The pilot of the project was launched in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
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