**Executive Summary**
This report responds to Unstarred Question No. 2175 in Lok Sabha, answered on February 12, 2026, regarding pothole-related crashes on National Highways (NHs). It provides data on road accidents, injuries, and fatalities caused by potholes or poor road surface conditions across states/UTs. The report covers the period from calendar years 2020-2024, with additional information on government initiatives for road maintenance and expenditure.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Data on Road Accidents:**
* The government publishes a report on "Road Accidents in India" based on data received from States/UTs, which includes details of road accidents, fatalities, and injuries caused by potholes on all roads.
* State-wise data for the number of accidents, fatalities, and injuries caused by potholes from 2020 to 2024 is provided as an annexure.
* **Government Responsibility:**
* The Government of India is responsible for the development and maintenance of National Highways.
* Respective State Governments are responsible for the development and maintenance of roads under their jurisdiction.
* **Complaint Mechanisms:**
* Complaints regarding potholes and road maintenance are received through online platforms such as Rajmargyatra App, NHAI Toll Free 1033 Helpline, Public Grievance Portal, and social media.
* **Maintenance Initiatives:**
* The government has prioritized the maintenance of the existing NH network.
* A mechanism is in place to ensure Maintenance and Repair (M&R) of all NH sections through accountable maintenance agencies.
* **Project Execution Modes:**
* NH development projects are executed mainly through Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), and Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) modes.
* **Concession and Defect Liability Periods:**
* Concession periods including maintenance for BOT projects are 15 to 20 years, and for HAM projects, it is generally 15 years.
* For EPC projects, the Defect Liability Period (DLP) is 5 years for bituminous pavement works and 10 years for concrete pavement works.
* For Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) and InvIT projects, the concession period, including maintenance, ranges from 20 to 30 years. For Projects on Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT), the concession period is generally 9 years.
* **Maintenance Contracts:**
* For NH stretches where DLP has ended or are not under any concession period, the government undertakes maintenance works through Performance Based Maintenance Contract (PBMC) or Short Term Maintenance Contract (STMC).
* STMC works are generally for 1-2 years, while PBMC works are for about 5-7 years.
* **Expenditure on Maintenance & Repair (M&R):**
* Year-wise details of funds allocated and expenditure incurred towards Maintenance & Repair (M&R) of NH stretches from 2014-15 to 2025-26 (till 31.12.2025) are provided.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Government of India (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways)**
* **Impact:** Required to provide data on road accidents, fatalities, and injuries related to potholes on NHs. Also responsible for the overall development and maintenance of NHs.
* **Action Required:** Continue to publish reports on road accidents, prioritize maintenance of NHs, and ensure effective complaint redressal mechanisms.
**Stakeholder: State Governments**
* **Impact:** Responsible for the development and maintenance of roads within their jurisdiction and for providing accident data to the central government.
* **Action Required:** Maintain state highways and urban roads, collect and report data on pothole-related accidents, and address public complaints regarding road conditions.
**Stakeholder: Concessionaires (BOT, HAM, TOT, InvIT, OMT)**
* **Impact:** Responsible for the maintenance of respective NH stretches within the concession period.
* **Action Required:** Maintain NH stretches as per contract agreements, adhere to defect liability periods, and ensure timely repairs.
**Stakeholder: Citizens**
* **Impact:** Directly affected by the safety and maintenance of roads.
* **Action Required:** Utilize complaint mechanisms to report issues, such as potholes, to the relevant authorities and follow road safety guidelines.
Key Entities Referenced
National Highways (NHs): Major roads maintained by the central government, specifically in relation to accidents caused by potholes.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways: The Indian government ministry responsible for the development and maintenance of roads, and answering questions about pothole-related accidents.
Road Accidents in India: A report published by the Government based on data from States/UTs, detailing road accidents, fatalities, and injuries, including those caused by potholes.
Rajmargyatra App: An online portal/app for reporting and addressing highway maintenance issues.
Performance Based Maintenance Contract (PBMC): A type of contract for maintaining National Highways.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2175
ANSWERED ON 12TH FEBRUARY, 2026
POTHOLES RELATED CRASHES ON NHs
2175. SHRI RAJA RAM SINGH:
Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार् ग मंत्री
be pleased to state:
(a) the number of road accidents, injuries and fatalities in the country
due to potholes or poor road surface conditions during each of the last
five years, particularly on National Highways (NHs), State/UT-wise;
(b) the total number of deaths and permanent injuries caused by
pothole-related crashes in 2023 and comparison of the same with
previous years;
(c) the total number of complaints received from the public regarding
potholes and unmaintained road surfaces during this period and the
average time taken to address and rectify such complaints;
(d) the details of any proposals to adopt real-time monitoring
technologies and enhanced citizen reporting systems to detect and
address potholes, lighting failures and other hazards promptly; and
(e) the specific timelines and budgetary allocations proposed or
provided for improving road safety, maintenance responsiveness and
infrastructure coordination with electricity and municipal authorities?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)
(a) and (b) Government publishes report on “Road Accidents in India”
based on data received from States/UTs. As per the report drawn from
information provided by the State Police, State-wise details of number
of road accidents, fatalities and injuries caused due to 'potholes' on all
roads including National Highways & State Highways and urban roads
during the calendar Year 2020 to 2024 are attached as per Annexure.
(c) to (e) Government of India is responsible for development and
maintenance of National Highways. Respective State Governments are
responsible for development and maintenance of roads under their
jurisdiction. Complaints are received through several online platforms/portals such as Rajmargyatra App, National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) Toll Free 1033 Helpline No., Public Grievance Portal, social
media, etc. with respect to highway maintenance and other issues.
The Government has prioritized the maintenance of existing NH
network and inter-alia evolved a mechanism to ensure Maintenance and
Repair (M&R) of all NHs sections through accountable maintenance
agencies.
NHs development projects are executed on mainly three modes i.e. (i)
Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), (ii) Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and
(iii) Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC). Concession
period including maintenance for projects on Build Operate and
Transfer (BOT) is 15 to 20 years and on Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) is
generally 15 years. Concessionaire is responsible for maintenance of
the respective NHs stretches within the concession period of the
project. Only in case of EPC projects, Defect Liability Period (DLP) is 5
years for the bituminous pavement works and 10 years for concrete
pavement works.
For Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) and InvIT (Infrastructure Investment
Trust) projects, concession period including maintenance is 20 to 30
years. Concession period for Projects on Operate, Maintain and
Transfer (OMT) is generally 9 years.
No separate maintenance expenditure is recorded in respect of above
NHs stretches. Expenditure incurred in the above contracts during DLP
and concession period is not being accounted.
For all remaining sections of NH stretches, where DLP has ended or is
not under any concession period of BOT/HAM/TOT/InvIT project,
Government has taken a policy decision to undertake maintenance
works through Performance Based Maintenance Contract (PBMC) or
Short Term Maintenance Contract (STMC). While STMC works are
generally undertaken for a contract period of 1-2 years, PBMC works
are undertaken for a contract period of about 5-7 years. Year – wise
details of funds allocated and expenditure incurred towards
Maintenance & Repair (M&R) of such NHs stretches since 2014-15
onwards are as under:-
Year Allocation (₹ in Crore) Expenditure (₹ in Crore)
2014-15 3,660 3,614
2015-16 3,856 3,701
2016-17 3,751 3,4082017-18 3,655 3,358
2018-19 4,139 3,505
2019-20 3,418 3,011
2020-21 5,948 5,948
2021-22 5,214 5,135
2022-23 6,510 6,278
2023-24 6,581 6,523
2024-25 9,489 9,488
2025-26 (till 31.12.2025) 8,843 7,071Annexure
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) and (b) OF LOK
SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2175 ANSWERED ON 12TH
FEBRUARY, 2026 ASKED BY SHRI RAJA RAM SINGH REGARDING
POTHOLES RELATED CRASHES ON NHs.
State wise details of number of road accidents, fatalities and injuries
caused due to 'potholes' during the calendar Year 2020
State/UT Accidents Killed Grievous Minor Total number of
injury Injury Injured person
Andhra Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0
Arunachal Pradesh 13 8 6 11 17
Assam 194 57 180 26 206
Bihar 0 0 0 0 0
Chhattisgarh 5 1 0 4 4
Goa 0 0 0 0 0
Gujarat 6 6 4 2 6
Haryana 183 69 67 120 187
Himachal Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0
Jharkhand 129 79 82 30 112
Karnataka 36 7 27 12 39
Kerala 25 2 19 10 29
Madhya Pradesh 439 96 85 409 494
Maharashtra 61 39 44 5 49
Manipur 2 1 1 0 1
Meghalaya 0 0 0 0 0
Mizoram 1 1 0 0 0
Nagaland 57 2 5 27 32
Orissa 174 80 93 53 146
Punjab 102 78 25 8 33
Rajasthan 120 50 43 84 127
Sikkim 0 0 0 0 0
Tamil Nadu 522 128 327 226 553
Telangana 58 36 2 33 35
Tripura 0 0 0 0 0
Uttarakhand 4 1 6 0 6
Uttar Pradesh 1447 759 594 377 971
West Bengal* 75 41 57 8 65
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 0 0 0 0 0
Chandigarh 0 0 0 0 0
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and 1 1 0 0 0
Daman and Diu
Delhi 55 13 5 44 49
Jammu & Kashmir 4 0 0 6 6
Ladakh
Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0
Puducherry 0 0 0 0 0
Total 3713 1555 1672 1495 3167State wise details of number of road accidents, fatalities and injuries
caused due to 'potholes' during the calendar Year 2021
Accidents Killed Grievous Minor Total number of
State/UT
Injury Injury Injured person
Andhra Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0
Arunachal Pradesh 25 13 11 19 30
Assam 187 55 197 22 219
Bihar 0 0 0 0 0
Chhattisgarh 15 4 1 9 10
Goa 0 0 0 0 0
Gujarat 8 5 4 4 8
Haryana 102 38 12 72 84
Himachal Pradesh 20 11 13 30 43
Jharkhand 97 77 47 11 58
Karnataka 67 16 44 34 78
Kerala 16 6 11 8 19
Madhya Pradesh 711 220 151 578 729
Maharashtra 33 14 45 8 53
Manipur 6 0 6 3 9
Meghalaya 0 0 0 0 0
Mizoram 0 0 0 0 0
Nagaland 15 3 3 6 9
Orissa 213 93 117 49 166
Punjab 114 77 50 29 79
Rajasthan 69 23 19 55 74
Sikkim 0 0 0 0 0
Tamil Nadu 459 109 128 297 425
Telangana 87 29 3 65 68
Tripura 0 0 0 0 0
Uttarakhand 0 0 0 0 0
Uttar Pradesh 1254 649 481 335 816
West Bengal* 64 28 41 11 52
Andaman & Nicobar 0 0 0 0 0
Islands
Chandigarh 0 0 0 0 0
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 2 2 0 0 0
and Daman and Diu
Delhi 56 9 5 63 68
Jammu & Kashmir 4 0 0 6 6
Ladakh 0 0 0 0 0
Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0
Puducherry 1 0 0 0 0
Total 3625 1481 1389 1714 3103State wise details of number of road accidents, fatalities and injuries
caused due to 'potholes' during the calendar Year 2022
Accidents Killed Grievous Minor Total number of
State/UT
Injury Injury injured person
Andhra Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0
Arunachal Pradesh 20 15 15 7 22
Assam 319 117 275 26 301
Bihar 0 0 0 0 0
Chhattisgarh 40 7 0 45 45
Goa 0 0 0 0 0
Gujarat 0 0 0 0 0
Haryana 130 47 5 131 136
Himachal Pradesh 2 2 0 2 2
Jharkhand 56 34 19 14 33
Karnataka 55 19 36 20 56
Kerala 25 1 19 11 30
Madhya Pradesh 759 199 90 718 808
Maharashtra 4 4 1 0 1
Manipur 5 3 0 8 8
Meghalaya 1 0 1 0 1
Mizoram 2 2 1 1 2
Nagaland 12 1 5 3 8
Orissa 158 69 106 35 141
Punjab 84 60 37 9 46
Rajasthan 98 51 36 61 97
Sikkim 1 0 1 1 2
Tamil Nadu 446 107 109 252 361
Telangana 153 40 12 117 129
Tripura 1 1 1 0 1
Uttarakhand 0 0 0 0 0
Uttar Pradesh 1986 1030 905 516 1421
West Bengal* 44 34 25 21 46
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 0 0 0 0 0
Chandigarh 1 1 0 0 0
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and 7 4 3 0 3
Daman and Diu
Delhi 28 7 2 22 24
Jammu & Kashmir 7 0 0 9 9
Ladakh 0 0 0 0 0
Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0
Puducherry 2 1 1 0 1
Total 4446 1856 1705 2029 3734State wise details of number of road accidents, fatalities and injuries
caused due to 'potholes' during the calendar Year 2023
Accidents Killed Grievous Minor Total number of
State/UT
Injury Injury injured person
Andhra Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0
Arunachal Pradesh 29 11 19 14 33
Assam 271 79 226 26 252
Bihar 0 0 0 0 0
Chhattisgarh 22 10 1 20 21
Goa 0 0 0 0 0
Gujarat 0 0 0 0 0
Haryana 117 50 52 31 83
Himachal Pradesh 18 7 11 38 49
Jharkhand 48 38 26 4 30
Karnataka 237 68 152 152 304
Kerala 6 1 5 0 5
Madhya Pradesh 1205 177 261 1034 1295
Maharashtra 61 29 27 18 45
Manipur 2 1 0 2 2
Meghalaya 0 0 0 0 0
Mizoram 0 0 0 0 0
Nagaland 0 0 0 0 0
Orissa 144 61 118 34 152
Punjab 89 68 26 7 33
Rajasthan 90 37 37 69 106
Sikkim 0 0 0 0 0
Tamil Nadu 620 159 341 323 664
Telangana 157 14 6 127 133
Tripura 0 0 0 0 0
Uttarakhand 1 1 0 1 1
Uttar Pradesh 2632 1320 1322 695 2017
West Bengal* 41 22 25 8 33
Andaman & Nicobar 0 0 0 0 0
Islands
Chandigarh 0 0 0 0 0
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 0 0 0 0 0
and Daman and Diu
Delhi 22 5 5 17 22
Jammu & Kashmir 4 0 0 4 4
Ladakh 24 3 6 19 25
Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0
Puducherry 0 0 0 0 0
Total 5840 2161 2666 2643 5309State wise details of number of road accidents, fatalities and injuries
caused due to 'potholes' during the calendar Year 2024
Accidents Killed Grievous Minor Total number of
State/UT
Injury Injury injured person
Andhra Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0
Arunachal Pradesh 28 17 12 8 20
Assam 197 87 165 14 179
Bihar 0 0 0 0 0
Chhattisgarh 36 9 4 23 27
Goa 0 0 0 0 0
Gujarat 10 6 8 1 9
Haryana 84 51 28 35 63
Himachal Pradesh 63 19 26 72 98
Jharkhand 54 32 29 4 33
Karnataka 93 24 53 65 118
Kerala 11 1 8 1 9
Madhya Pradesh 1069 277 147 857 1004
Maharashtra 75 43 53 12 65
Manipur 0 0 0 0 0
Meghalaya 0 0 0 0 0
Mizoram 0 0 0 0 0
Nagaland 1 1 0 0 0
Orissa 168 85 99 50 149
Punjab 150 131 47 12 59
Rajasthan 91 56 39 68 107
Sikkim 0 0 0 0 0
Tamil Nadu 360 109 106 274 380
Telangana 86 27 12 74 86
Tripura 0 0 0 0 0
Uttarakhand 0 0 0 0 0
Uttar Pradesh 2727 1369 1371 738 2109
West Bengal* 41 24 21 15 36
Andaman & Nicobar 0 0 0 0 0
Islands
Chandigarh 0 0 0 0 0
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1 1 0 0 0
and Daman and Diu
Delhi 84 16 10 79 89
Jammu & Kashmir 3 0 0 3 3
Ladakh 0 0 0 0 0
Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0
Puducherry 0 0 0 0 0
Total 5432 2385 2238 2405 4643
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