In 2025, Kol saw lowest number of fatal accidents in a decade
Times of India | 13 January 2026
Kolkata: The city recorded 154 fatal accidents in 2025, the lowest in the past decade.
There were 159 fatal accidents reported in 2023, and 191 in 2024. Last year's number was a 19.4% reduction in just a year, one of the largest drops in fatalities, said Lalbazar officials.
The decrease, cops claimed, was primarily achieved by riding piggyback on two strategies. The first involved an effort to decrease fatalities on the three most accident-prone roads in the city — Basanti Highway, EM Bypass and Diamond Harbour Road. The second part of the plan was to ensure the safety of pedestrians without affecting normal traffic cycles.
"This reduction from 191 in 2024 to 154 last year was approximately 19.4%, the sharpest drop in fatalities in over a decade," a traffic cop said.
"To be able to curb fatal accidents despite traffic pressure proves that proper planning and right execution can indeed help," the officer said.
As part of their twin strategy, Kolkata Police's traffic department initiated special surveillance on Bypass, where IIT Kharagpur was appointed the nodal agency to study how to make the road safe.
"On Bypass and DH Road, the plan now is to ensure that pedestrians use only demarcated crossings while the rest of the road will have median dividers," the officer said.
Each accident was analysed, and not all accidents threw up similar reasons, cops claimed. However, a certain disregard for the overall road conditions amongst commuters was certainly to blame. "For example, we found people disregarding lane driving even in wet conditions, or getting off flyovers and bridges in neutral gears," said an officer at a traffic guard who witnessed a couple of fatal accidents in the past six months.
On Basanti Highway, convex mirrors were installed at every turn, and rumble strips were placed on roads to reduce speed. Additionally, ANPR cameras and speed cameras were installed to curb reckless driving. Continuous fines and crackdowns helped reduce accidents and fatalities.
According to data collected by KP through the National Crime Records Bureau, Kolkata was the least accident-prone city among metro cities in 2025. The findings will be made part of the annual traffic report for 2025, which will be released in the next couple of months.
According to this report, other cities, like Delhi and Mumbai, had significantly higher numbers of accidents, injuries and fatalities.