Lockdown: 42 Migrant Workers Died In Road Accidents, Says Report

NEW DELHI: Save Life Foundation said in its report that nearly 42 migrant workers have died separate road accidents while they were going to their home towns during the coronavirus induced lockdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus from March 24 to May 3rd. From May 3rd, again it was extended and currently India is in the third phase of lockdown.

The Save Life Foundation details road accidents that took place since lockdown was announced in the country to date. A total of 140 people died in road accidents during this period. Thirty percent of the people who died are migrant workers who set on foot to reach home or trying to reach their native towns by hiding in buses and trucks.

Eight migrant workers died after being hit by trucks and speeding cars. 17 essential workers also died in road accidents. The report says that 600 road accidents took place in the country ever since the lockdown has been enforced in the country.

Save Life Foundation CEO Piyush Tewari asserted that, "These numbers should be treated as the minimum numbers since we did not get replies from several states and believe some single-fatality crashes may not have been written about.”

Tewari added that “India witnesses the highest number of road crashes deaths each year. While there is a decrease in the fatalities during the lockdown period, 140 deaths in 600 crashes shows that the death to crashes ratio is as usual. Our governments should use the lockdown to fix engineering faults in our roads and institute mechanism of electronic enforcement so that once the lockdown ends, we can keep road fatalities low.”

Out of 140 deaths, more than 100 were reported from nine states, Punjab, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Assam, Kerala, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Maximum number of people died in road accidents during the two phases of lockdown in Punjab and it is followed by Kerala, Delhi and Karnataka.

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