Jaipur: Rajasthan recorded an increase in highway fatalities in 2025 even as such deaths declined nationally, according to data tabled in the Lok Sabha last week by Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari.The ministry’s data showed that 62,122 people died in highway accidents across India in 2025, down from 64,772 in 2024. Rajasthan, however, reported 4,524 highway deaths in 2025, up from 4,285 the previous year, despite recording fewer highway accidents than in 2024.Road safety experts said the rise points to weak enforcement and gaps in safety infrastructure in a state that has consistently reported a high accident burden.Neha Khullar, executive director of Muskaan Foundation for Road Safety, said Rajasthan had proposed setting up trauma care centres in every district to provide timely treatment to crash victims, but the plan remains largely unimplemented. She added that Jaipur’s trauma care centre is almost non-functional.“Had these centres been operational, the number of highway fatalities could have been lower. Unfortunately, adequate trauma care facilities are still lacking in rural areas along highways across the state,” Khullar said.“An increase of nearly 300 highway deaths in a single year is significant for any state. Even after a major tragedy like the Dec 20, 2024 Ajmer Road accident, in which 19 people died when a truck collided with an LPG tanker taking a U-turn, fatalities have continued to rise,” an NHAI official said.Road safety expert P K Sikdar attributed the increase to outdated highway infrastructure and poor enforcement of traffic norms.“Take the Dec 2024 Ajmer Road accident. How was traffic allowed on a highway stretch without a cloverleaf interchange? Only after the tragedy did NHAI fast-track and complete the project within about one-and-a-half years. It shows how many such safety gaps may still exist on our highways,” said Sikdar, senior adviser to the Indian Road Federation.
