Road accidents and fatalities on highways rise in West Bengal

PTI, Mar 24, 2026, Kolkata : West Bengal recorded 4,172 road accidents and 2,113 fatalities on national highways in 2024, up from 3,841 accidents and 1,957 deaths in 2023—an increase of 8.6 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

Data from the Union government’s “Road Accidents in India” report shows a post-pandemic rise after a dip in 2020, when accidents stood at 3,354 and fatalities at 1,826. Compared with 2020, accidents rose 24.4 per cent and deaths 15.7 per cent. Against 2019 levels of 3,547 accidents and 2,012 deaths, the increases were 17.6 per cent and 5 per cent.

Over a decade, accidents declined from 4,895 in 2014 to 4,172 in 2024, down 14.8 per cent, while fatalities edged down from 2,152 to 2,113, a fall of 1.8 per cent.

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Year-wise data shows fluctuation rather than a steady decline. Across states, Tamil Nadu reported 20,672 accidents in 2024, followed by Uttar Pradesh (17,113), Karnataka (14,208), Madhya Pradesh (13,937) and Maharashtra (11,285). Kerala (9,757), Telangana (8,599), Andhra Pradesh (8,258) and Rajasthan (7,174) followed, with Bihar (4,681) and Odisha (4,555) ahead of West Bengal.

In fatalities, Uttar Pradesh recorded 9,560 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu (6,376), Maharashtra (5,812), Madhya Pradesh (4,644), Rajasthan (4,285), Karnataka (4,278), Andhra Pradesh (4,014), Bihar (4,012) and Telangana (3,066). Odisha recorded 2,358 deaths, with West Bengal below these states.

The Centre attributed accidents to human error, road and vehicle conditions. Compensation for hit-and-run cases stands at Rs 2 lakh for death and Rs 50,000 for grievous injury, with total payouts rising from Rs 1.78 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 125.98 crore in 2025-26 till December.