Mumbai, Sep 22 Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Tuesday convened the State Road Safety Council meeting after more than three years, even though the statutory body is required to meet at least twice a year.
Sarnaik chaired the 13th meeting of the council at Mantralaya, where he directed officials from the police, public works and health departments to work in coordination to reduce road accidents and fatalities, officials said.
The Road Safety Council is constituted under Rule 215 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules. Its task is to review road accident trends, monitor road safety measures, identify accident-prone locations and coordinate preventive action.
The Union government has prescribed that the Road Safety Council should meet at least twice a year.
In Maharashtra, the meetings of the Council were held regularly from 2015 to 2019. However, only four meetings were held in the subsequent years till April 2023.
Tuesday’s 13th meeting came 1,268 days after the previous meeting on April 3, 2023.
Between the 12th meeting held in April 2023 and June 2026, 1,17,070 road accidents were reported in Maharashtra, resulting in 50,488 fatalities, 73,423 serious injuries and 27,198 minor injuries as of June 2026, according to Transport Department data.
Sarnaik assumed charge of the Transport Department on December 24, 2024, but this is the first time he convened a meeting of the Council.
Since the Devendra Fadnavis government came to power in December 2024, the state has recorded 49,157 road accidents that claimed 20,890 lives.
In the first quarter of 2026 alone, Maharashtra reported 9,259 road accidents and 3,858 fatalities.
(PTI News)
