Four accidents daily on Agra-Lucknow express: RTI

AGRA: India’s longest expressway has reported four road accidents per day, in which 191 commuters lost their lives.


This is according to a latest data revealed in an RTI reply by Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA).

Data shows that the Agra-Lucknow expressway reported 1,966 road accidents in just 17 months (August 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018).

Out of the total number of accidents, 145 were caused by stray animals on the 302-km stretch, while the rest were caused by tyre bursts, over-speeding and by drivers who dozed on the wheels.

The RTI query was requested by Supreme Court lawyer Krishan Chand Jain.

Speaking to TOI, Jain said, “On an average, four road accidents took place on the bitumen stretch and one person died every third day. Interestingly, the expressway which has iron-railing on both sides along with a metal fence to separate the up and down lanes also reported nearly 150 road accidents caused by stray animals. The menace was prevalent on the stretch passing via Agra, Firozabad , Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kannauj, Kanpur Nagar, Unnao, Hardoi and Lucknow.”

He also said, “The UPEIDA in its reply stated that a total of 96,33,739 vehicles paid Rs 177.72 crore as toll tax since the beginning of toll service. However, they still failed to take preventative measures to keep away stray animals. The UPEIDA also admitted that till now they haven’t managed to install high-speed camera to monitor speeding vehicles. In the RTI, UPEIDA further stated that there was no data on over-speeding available with them.”

The Agra-Lucknow expressway was opened for light vehicles on December 23, 2016, while toll service started on January 19 of 2018.

Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, three members of a family and their driver died when their vehicle rammed into a stationary truck on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. The accident occurred in Usrahar police jurisdiction of Etawah district when the victims were heading to Varanasi.