Assam records dip in road accident fatalities: CM Sarma

Guwahati, Aug 27 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said though the number of road accidents in the state has increased compared to last year, fatalities have dropped due to timely medical intervention.

CM Sarma compared the road accident data of 2023 and 2024 and appealed to all to drive safely.

In January 2023, the state recorded a total of 654 accidents, while 819 accidents were reported in the corresponding period this year.

In February 2023 and 2024, the road accidents reported in Assam were 582 and 822 respectively, an increase of more than 41 per cent.

The Chief Minister has given a comparison chart for the first six months of 2023 and 2024. Every month, the number of road accidents increased this year compared to the previous year.

In June 2023, only 555 cases occurred across the state while the figure went up to 1,234 cases in June 2024 - a rise of more than 122 per cent. The increase was lowest between May 2023 and May 2024 when 686 cases happened in the previous year and 831 accidents occurred this year.

Between January to June in the previous year, a total of 3,746 accidents occurred while during the same period, 5,460 accident cases were recorded this year - a gross increase of more than 45 per cent.

In 2023, a total of 1,670 fatalities occurred due to accidents while the figure stands at 1,248 in the first six months of this year. Although road accidents have gone up, the decrease in fatalities is attributed to speedy medical intervention, according to CM Sarma.

Meanwhile, the injuries related to road accidents have increased grossly by more than 150 per cent.

Between January and June of 2023, around 2,907 road accident injuries were recorded while the number has gone up to 7,360 in the same period this year.

Taking to social media platform X, CM Sarma wrote, "Sharing the road accident data for the first 6 months of 2024. 2 main observations come out from the report -- Road Accidents have gone up by 45 per cent resulting in more injuries Fatalities have come down by 25 per cent due to timely medical assistance and treatment."