NH-44 in Delhi, Haryana Tops List of Deadliest Indian Highways with 2,300+ Deaths in 2023

Quick Summary

• NH-44 Safety Concerns: haryana (266 km) and Delhi (30 km) sections of NH-44 are the most risky road stretches in India,accounting for 715 and 63 fatalities respectively in 2023. This translates to three deaths per km in Haryana and nearly two deaths per km in delhi.
• Major Urban stretches: Mukarba Chowk-Sanghu Border and Ashram-Badarpur Border sections in Delhi identified as highly accident-prone areas.
• NH-48 Danger Zone: The Gurgaon-Rajasthan border section of NH-48 (85 km) ranked as the third most unsafe stretch, with two fatalities per km reported last year.
• Road Safety Measures: The SaveLife Foundation has partnered under an MoU with the road transport ministry and NHAI to analyze accident data from the Integrated Road Accident Database for corrective action. Highway builders are being tasked with implementing safety measures based on updated crash data.
• District-Level Interventions: Government’s ‘Data Driven Hyperlocal Intervention’ program launched across 100 districts from 18 states to reduce road crashes using integrated data collected since 2021; Maharashtra leads with 19 high-risk districts, followed by Uttar pradesh (18), Karnataka (11).

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Indian Opinion Analysis

India’s rising highway fatalities underscore a critical need for improved infrastructure planning and targeted interventions to ensure safer transit corridors-especially urban stretches where accidents disproportionately occur due to mixed traffic types including cyclists,pedestrians,and motor vehicles.Government partnerships like those between NHAI and SaveLife Foundation show promise but must be scaled effectively across all high-risk zones flagged by recent studies.

The lack of pedestrian-friendly features on highways entering city boundaries appears prominent among safety challenges identified-a gap that could contribute considerably if addressed through systematic planning of overpasses or segregated lanes tailored for non-motorized users.Programs such as ‘Data Driven Hyperlocal Interventions’ demonstrate commitment at district levels but require sustained follow-ups rooted firmly in scientific assessment rather than ad-hoc remedies. As India’s highway network expands rapidly alongside urbanization trends, these findings highlight areas for actionable policy frameworks emphasizing enforcement strategies paired alongside engineering improvements.

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