Government has earned a revenue of Rs 25,000 crore collecting tolls on the highways in last three years. With a total of 549 toll plazas across the country, the highways are a big source of earning for the government. But despite filling the coffers of the government, the highways are neither in good condition, nor are safe for the people as majority of accidents in India occur on highways.

Reuters

There are several cases, the toll companies are collecting tolls without even completing road and the commuters remain stranded on the highway because it’s not constructed yet the toll is being collected.

India loses a city every year in road accidents

As per the Census 2011, Indian cities such as Darjeeling (1, 20, 414), Roorkee (1, 18, 188), Wardha (1, 05, 543), Gangtok (1,00,286), Bhadrak (1, 07, 369), Port Blair (1,00, 608) and many other cities have population of approximately 1.20 lakh people.

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But road accidents year take more than 1, 40,000 lives in India. According to the statistics presented in the Lok Sabha of death in road accident, 146,133 people died in 501423 road accidents in 2015.

The number of people died in 4,80,652 road accidents in 2016 was 1,50,785. In 4,64,910 cases of road accidents in 2017, 1,47,913 people died, a PIB report said.

Highways account for 52 per cent of road accidents

According to report by prsindia.org, the highways (both national and state) comprise only 5 percent of the total road network in the country, but these highways witness 52 per cent of the accidents. These figure show that despite claims made by the government, highways are not safe for commuters.

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Tamil Nadu witnessed maximum deaths in accidents. In 2015, 15 642 people lost their lives in road accidents. This number of people died in road accidents in the state in 2017 were 17218 and in 2018, 16157 people lost their lives in road accidents.

But revenue is increasing

AFP

Out of 549 toll plazas, Rajasthan has maximum 90 toll plazas while in terms of revenue, UP contributes the most. The revenue collection from the toll plazas is increasing yearly, The New Indian Express reported. In 2016-17, the revenue collection stood at Rs 6,938 crore. It increased to Rs 8,630 crore in 2017-18 and Rs 9, 187 crore in 2018-19.