In Chandigarh, where vehicles outnumber human population, road crashes claimed 407 lives and left 836 persons injured between 2021 and 2025 — a period that saw 987 total accidents. That works out to one crash every two days, one death every four days and one injury every two days. This is revealed by the official road crash data accessed exclusively by The Tribune.

With 14.27 lakh vehicles registered against an estimated population of 12.5 lakh, the city holds the highest per-capita vehicle density in the country at 1,142 vehicles per 1,000 residents – more than four times the national average of 280. Every day, 104 new vehicles hit its roads.

After peaking in 2022 — 237 crashes and 203 injury cases, both five-year highs — the numbers showed a decline. 2023 saw 67 fatal accidents, while 2024 recorded the lowest crashes at 169 with 133 injury cases. But in 2025, fatal crashes surged 15.3 per cent to 83, deaths rose to 86, and total crashes climbed to 191 — erasing two years of improvement in a single year.

As Chandigarh races towards 15 lakh vehicles against its population of 12.5 lakh, the pressure to bring a decisive decline in fatal accidents has never been greater. The 2025 surge is an unambiguous warning — without systemic, sustained intervention, the UT risks becoming the city that could not save itself from its own traffic.

BLACK SPOTS

A road accident black spot, as defined by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, is a 500-metre national highway stretch where five or more crashes with fatalities/grievous injuries or 10 fatalities occur over three consecutive years. Official data for 2023–2025 identifies four black spots in Chandigarh — one on NH-05 and three on urban city roads. The most accident-prone is the Hallomajra-Poultry Farm Chowk stretch on NH-05 with nine crashes and an equal number of deaths. On urban roads, Kalagram, Housing Board light point (both on Madhya Marg) and Milk Colony (Dhanas) light point each recorded five deaths in five or more crashes over three years.

NATIONAL CONTEXT

India’s road crisis is massive: 4,64,029 crashes, 1.73 lakh deaths and 4.47 lakh injured in 2023 (NCRB/MoRTH). Among cities, Delhi leads with 5,715 accidents and 1,457 deaths, followed by Bengaluru (4,980 accidents, 915 deaths) and Jaipur (848 deaths). Top states by highway fatalities: Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh. Chandigarh, while being below the metros in absolute numbers, stands out starkly on per-capita vehicle density and fatality ratios — a compact city absorbing a vehicular load it was never built to handle.

WHAT IS BEING DONE

Chandigarh Traffic Police has launched a road safety dialogue-cum-workshop on the safe system approach

Is integrating manual ATC signals with the ITMS-enabled Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) with expanded CCTV surveillance

Segregating cycle tracks on Purv Marg from Tribune Chowk to Transport Chowk

Widening Tribune Chowk-to-Airport light point stretch

Installing pedestrian pelican lights at six locations, blinkers at 61 locations, and a cycle track with iron grills on the Sector 29/30 divider

The Road Safety Implementation Cell inspects all fatal accident sites and recommends corrective measures.

WHAT THE POLICE SAY

“Every death on Chandigarh’s roads is a death too many. We are committed to making city roads safer through strict enforcement, smart engineering and sustained public education — whether upgrading surveillance infrastructure, rectifying black spots, or ensuring traffic laws are observed without exception.” — Dr Sagar Preet Hooda, Director General of Police, Chandigarh

“Over 100 new vehicles are registered every day in Chandigarh. Our teams enforce speed limits and violations round the clock, while coordinating with engineering departments to make high-risk junctions safer. We are determined to reverse the 2025 trend and deliver a sustained decline in accidents and deaths.” — Sumer Pratap Singh, SSP Traffic, Chandigarh