Road accidents claim 10 lives monthly in Cachar: MP Suklabaidya
'Assam has been losing nearly 3,000 to 4,000 people every year in road mishaps in recent time,' says the MP.
MP Suklabaidya has taken the lead in spreading road safety awareness at the grassroots level.
Silchar, Jan 15: Road accidents continue to claim lives at an alarming pace in Assam, with Cachar district alone recording around 10 fatalities every month, Silchar MP Parimal Suklabaidya said on Thursday, calling the trend a preventable human tragedy.
Highlighting the gravity of the situation, Suklabaidya said Assam has been losing nearly 3,000 to 4,000 people every year in road mishaps in recent times.
Acting on the directions of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, the MP has taken the lead in spreading road safety awareness at the grassroots level as part of the ongoing National Road Safety Month 2026.
Setting a personal example, Suklabaidya was seen riding a two-wheeler wearing a helmet along with his son, Utpal Suklabaidya, urging citizens to strictly follow traffic rules and adopt safe driving habits.
Interacting with the press, he said India witnesses nearly 4.6 lakh road accidents annually, leading to about 1.72 lakh deaths.
“In Cachar alone, at least 10 people die every month in road accidents. These are man-made tragedies that can be avoided by following basic safety norms,” he said, adding that nearly 80 percent of accidents involve two-wheelers, with 75 percent of victims belonging to the 18–45 age group.
As part of the initiative, a comprehensive road safety awareness drive will be conducted across 162 Gaon Panchayats in Cachar, along with four town committees.
The campaign, themed ‘Pather Barta, Pather Jatra’, aims to reach both rural and urban areas with the goal of reducing road fatalities to zero. BJP Cachar district president Rupam Saha and party workers accompanied the MP during the drive.
Recalling his tenure as Assam’s Minister of Transport, Suklabaidya said the earlier Path Suraksha Jana Jagaran campaign, during which he travelled nearly 5,000 km across 126 constituencies, helped save around 400 lives.
“With wider public participation this time, we hope to reduce fatalities to the minimum or even nil,” he said.
The MP also highlighted government measures to support accident victims and encourage public intervention.
Under the Good Samaritan policy, individuals who take accident victims to the nearest hospital will receive Rs 25,000, while free treatment up to Rs 1.5 lakh has been announced for road accident victims.
Citing official data, Suklabaidya said Assam recorded 7,427 road accidents in 2023, claiming 3,296 lives, including 133 deaths in Cachar alone.
He urged citizens to treat road safety as a shared responsibility and strictly adhere to traffic rules to prevent the loss of precious lives.