MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS
Q1. Traffic accidents are the outcome of several interrelated circumstances. Discuss the various initiatives the Indian government has implemented to lower the number of mishaps and fatalities.
GS II – Government Policies and Interventions
Introduction:
- India is home to fewer than 3% of all vehicles worldwide, but it is responsible for almost 12% of all road fatalities. In India, traffic accidents resulted in around 4.4 lakh injuries and 1.68 lakh fatalities in the calendar year 2022.
- Traffic accidents are the product of multiple factors interacting and are a multi-causal phenomenon.
- These fall into three general categories: (i) human error; (ii) road/environment conditions; and (iii) vehicle condition.
Error by Human:
- Human error can result in accidents when people (i) break traffic laws, (ii) drive without a valid licence, and (iii) fail to employ safety devices.
- ‘Over speeding’ was the cause of 72.3 percent of all traffic accidents in 2022, 71.2 percent of all fatalities, and 72.8 percent of all injuries.
- In 2022, the combined percentage of traffic accidents involving drivers with learners’ permits and those without valid licences was 11.8%.
Road Environment-Related Accidents:
- Traffic congestion is more common in residential, institutional, and market/commercial areas, which increases the risk of traffic accidents.
- Weather has an impact on the state of the road and drivers’ visibility, which raises the possibility of accidents.
- The data indicates that the majority of accidents—16.1% of all accidents—that resulted in fatalities or serious injuries happened at “uncontrolled crossings.”
Car Accidents Caused by Conditions:
- The age distribution of vehicles involved in collisions is intended to provide some insight into the number of old or excessively old automobiles on the road. Older cars are less safe, have more frequent malfunctions, and breakdown more frequently.
- In 2022, 6.1 percent of all accidents, 7.2 percent of all fatalities, and 6.5 percent of all injuries were caused by overloaded cars.
Government action taken in multiple ways:
Measures of education:
- To raise awareness among drivers, the Ministry runs a programme that involves publicising road safety through print, electronic, and non-governmental organisations, among other channels.
- Every year, National Road Safety Week or Month is observed to raise awareness and improve road safety.
Engineering Interventions:
- Every stage of a highway project now requires a Road Safety Audit (RSA).
- The goal of the Electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) Project is to create a national database for the management, reporting, and analysis of data related to traffic accidents.
Automobile Engineering:
- Airbags, the Anti-Breaking System (ABS), tyres, crash testing, Whole Vehicle Safety Conformity of Production (WVSCoP), and other automotive safety regulations have all undergone improvements.
- In order to phase out older, unfit, polluting automobiles, the Ministry developed the Vehicle Scrapping Policy, which is based on incentives and disincentives.
Implementation Strategies:
- In 2019, the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 underwent a revision. In order to ensure compliance, improve deterrence for breaking traffic laws, and implement strong enforcement through the use of technology, it allows for harsh punishments.
- Draught regulations and guidelines for the safety of good samaritans under the MV (Amendment) Act of 2019 have been released.
Emergency Medical Attention:
- The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 outlines a plan for accident victims to receive cashless care during prime time.
- All toll booths along the National Highways corridor that has been finished include provisions for ambulances, according to the National Highways Authority of India.
Direction of Travel:
- India should prioritise setting a clear national goal and pursuing it in mission mode through a lead agency with the necessary resources.
- Institutional structures and procedures may continue to be ineffectual in the absence of sufficient funds. Thus, it is imperative to fortify financial mechanisms.
- At the moment, India lacks a central budget specifically for road safety. Such a fund must be established.
- Furthermore, the authorities will be able to determine what needs to be done to make these patches safer by identifying accident hot areas with the use of an established and maintained data management system that tracks and analyses traffic accidents.
- People may become impoverished as a result of road accidents that disrupt their way of life. A multidisciplinary approach involving law enforcement, governance (concerning driving licences and vehicle registration), engineering (proper road design), awareness-raising, and post-accident trauma care and management is required to contain road accidents. The goal of the recently approved National Road Safety Strategy is to reduce the number of road accident fatalities by half by 2025.
Q2. Analyze the importance of biosphere reserves and the part that local communities play in preserving them.
GS III – Environmental Conservation related issues
Introduction:
- Every year on November 3, the world observes World Biosphere Reserve Day to promote the conservation and sustainable use of biosphere reserves and to increase public understanding of their significance. The strictly protected core zone, which provides habitat for flora and wildlife and safeguards the water, soil, air, and biota as a coherent ecosystem, is located in the centre of each biosphere reserve. Around the core zone is a buffer zone, where people live and work in peace with the environment. The buffer zone also serves as a training and educational area for scientists studying nature. The transition zone, which is the furthest edge, is where communities engage in socio-culturally and environmentally viable human activities.
The Biosphere Reserves’ Importance:
- Gene banks: There is a growing threat to the planet’s biodiversity of genes, plant and animal species, ecosystems, and landscapes. By stopping soil erosion, guarding water springs, and acting as decomposers to absorb air and water contaminants and facilitate nutrient recycling, they improve the upkeep of the systems that sustain life.
- Open classrooms are areas where people can conduct research on how natural resources, including people, are organised and circulate through space. Through study, they make it possible to reconstruct the landscapes altered by human activity, identify extinct species, track the processes causing climate change, look for ways to restore ecosystems and their constituent parts, and make better judgements.
- Land Use Planning: They employ a participative approach to manage land use planning. Discussing conflicts and shared interests, all sectoral parties involved in these territories—landowners, governmental institutions, scientists, farmers, industry, conservation groups—can collaborate to coordinate the search for an all-encompassing land management.
- Empowerment: Promote local governments’ empowerment and the collaborative search for answers to environmental and social issues.
- Experimentation: They serve as areas for the development of sustainable economic methods. They permit the preservation of wild plant and animal species, water, and soil, among other things.
- Sites that make it easier to understand and learn about the dynamics of natural ecosystems are known as environmental education resources. and aid in their recuperation.
- Combating Climate Change: Since majority of the world’s carbon sinks are found in these regions, which aid in the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, biosphere reserves have grown in importance in the recent years. Similar to forests and the ocean, carbon sinks offer ways to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Local communities’ contribution to biosphere reserve conservation:
- Local communities and interested parties are included in cooperative planning and management activities for biosphere reserves, with an emphasis on biodiversity conservation and socially, culturally, and environmentally sustainable development.
- Locally, there have been notable developments in the preservation of biosphere reserves. For instance, local communities collaborate to manage mangrove forests and save the region’s biodiversity at India’s Sundarban Biosphere Reserve.
- In India’s Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, women from the local community are forming self-help groups to support conservation efforts, and young people are participating in ecotourism.
- The idea of “plastic checkpoints” has also been introduced by the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust. Locals search every car and visitor for plastic debris, which is gathered, recycled, and utilised to build roadways.
- Native to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, tribal groups such as the Todas, Kotas, Irulas, Kurumbas, Paniyas, Adiyans, and so forth, are integral to its management and conservation efforts.
- India’s Biosphere Reserves are evidence of the nation’s dedication to protecting its natural heritage. They act as priceless ecosystems that preserve biodiversity, uplift nearby populations, and encourage upcoming generations to value and preserve the abundance of the country’s natural resources.
