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While it seems like authorities in Gujarat have left no billboard empty to advertise its safety and development standards, the reality in the state is something different. The number of incidents taking place in terms of road and personal safety, are the testament to that.

Money deafens the sound of rising road accident alarm

Silver spoons in their mouths have barred the taste of consequence from the lives of Gujarat’s well-to-do youth, as a case of hit-and-run is registered every eight hours in the state. Alongside, police equipment to deal with these accidents is also yet to be brought to use.

Gujarat recorded 4,860 hit-and-run cases in one year, in which 3,449 people lost their lives and 2,720 were injured.

As per the numbers from Apr 2022 to Mar 2023, accidents take three lives every day, and 70% of the hit-and-run cases have proven to be fatal in Gujarat.

The lethal speeds of the high-end vehicles have not been affected by the police charging heavy fines for helmet-seatbelt violations by motorists.

Crime against women and children also up

Despite Gujarat being painted as a safe state, the crime rates against women and children have been rising.

Cases of harassment against women increased from 1,181 in 2021-22 to 1,239 in 2022-23. Ahmedabad alone has recorded the highest number of cases of harassment, at 220.

Similarly, crimes against children have also increased at a rate of 53.39% in 2021, up from 37.09% in 2016. Sexual crimes against children are growing in the state as well.

With both accidents on the roads and in terms of the safety of its women and children, the state needs to take a hard look at itself, and do something about the numbers that are alarmingly becoming a norm.

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