A parliamentary committee on Transport, tourism, and culture recently analysed Indian highways and criticised the government over the state of existing “blackspots” in the latest report on demand for grants for the upcoming financial year, 2025-2026. It referred to it as a failure on the part of the government, a “significant governance failure that directly translates to preventable deaths”.
Blackspots are those areas of the highway where the occurrence of casualties and accidents is high. It is decided based on the number of accidents in the past three years. It also flagged the importance of following a strict three-stage plan to tackle the “blackspots”
It elaborated that, “For immediate action, the Ministry should adopt a rapid-response protocol for CategoryA (highest risk)blackspots, with mandatory intervention within 30 days of identification. This should include the deployment of temporary safety measures while permanent solutions are designed. For Category B and C blackspots, the Ministry should establish 90-day and 180-day rectification deadlines respectively, with penalties for non-compliance by implementing agencies,”
In addition to this, the committee headed by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha said that the ministry should create a portal to depict blackspots on highways including improvements or deterioration. The ministry in the meeting also declared its target of reducing accidents to up to 95 per cent by 2030, with a focus on improving 1000 blackspots in the year 2026. Despite declarations made on the part of the ministry existence of black spots on national highways shows concern and poses a threat to the lives of many..
