10 worst black spots remain unsafe

NEW DELHI: No substantial work has been done to make black spots safer in the city through road engineering. According to a study of the worst 10 black spots in Delhi by the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), not much has been done to reduce the number of accidents in such areas.
SPA is the first university in the country to include road safety in its curriculum. At a seminar on the course, which is a part of the master’s programme in transport planning, head of the department P K Sarkar said that architects, designers and engineers can play a big role in reducing road accident deaths in the country.“Road safety is an integral part of transport planning and needs to be taken up aggressively,” he said.
A black spot is an accident-prone area. Of the 128 such spots identified by the traffic police, the worst ten were ranked according to the highest criticality by SPA. They are: Sarai Kale Khan, Kashmere Gate Chowk (Mori Gate), Nigambodh Ghat, Mukundpur Chowk, Dr Bhabha Marg crossing, Punjabi Bagh Chowk, ISBT Kashmere Gate, Mahipalpur flyover, Shani Mandir and Shahdara flyover. Sarkar said SPA had done a comparative study of these areas and suggested the best possible road engineering solutions.
Although the number of such fatalities have gone down from 2,153 in 2010 to 1,532 in 2015, Delhi still ranks first in road deaths in the country, said K K Kapila, who heads the International Road Federation — a Geneva-based global body working for safer and better roads.
“Black spots can be made safer for motorists through accident investigation and engineering prevention techniques. Simple measures such as improving visibility by removing hazards, installation of street lighting, redesigning of junctions and roadways to accommodate the needs of pedestrians and cyclists, provision of appropriate road markings and traffic can significantly reduce road accidents,” said Kapila.