GHAZIABAD: The traffic department has identified 14 black spots or accident-prone spots in Ghaziabad, ahead of the road safety week that begins on February 4. The spots were identified on the basis of the accidents that took place in the past few years. In 2018 alone, 392 people lost their lives while 746 were left injured in 969 accidents that took place in the city.“Black spots are those areas where ten or more major accidents have taken place in three years in which five or more people lost their lives. As per this criteria, there are 14 black spots that have been identified in Ghaziabad,” said R K Singh, senior ARTO (enforcement). “These black spots occur either due to faulty design or because errant drivers have their way due to lack of enforcement of traffic rules,” added Singh.In a meeting held ahead of the road safety week, the district magistrate has asked agencies to take measures to make city’s roads safer.“Out of 14 black spots, 10 come under the jurisdiction of PWD while four come under NHAI,” said Maheshwari. “In the review meeting, it was apprised by stakeholders of the steps taken to do away with these black spots,” she said.The NHAI informed the meeting that work is underway on the Delhi-Meerut expressway to make ABES cut black spot-free. “Near ABES cut, broadening of DME is underway and by mid of this year it will be made black spot-free,” said Singh. “A U-turn is proposed on the Bhowpur tri-section on Mohan Nagar-Loni Marg stretch while a service lane is proposed on the Jhilmil dhaba,” added Singh.“Till last year, there were 16 black spots and remedial measures were taken. Now all have been made black spot-free. But, this year, the traffic department, based on the number of accidents and fatalities, 14 new black spots were identified and measures are being taken to make it free of accidents,” said Maheshwari.Kapil Mehta, a former member of Indian Institute of Architects, said, “ The blind spots are largely because of faulty road designs like Mohan Nagar which is notorious for traffic jams and accidents. These black spots alone account for 25% of total accidents in the city.”

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