Dikhyaa Mohanty 
In the past five years, Odisha has reported 25,934 fatalities and 51,873 cases of injuries from 54,790 traffic accidents. In response to a question from BJP MLA Kusum Tete, Odisha Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu told the State Assembly that 11,262 accidents happened in 2018, with 5,315 fatalities and 11,794 injuries, while 11,064 accidents in 2019 were reported to have 5,333 fatalities. 11,177 people were hurt in all that same year. In 2020, there were 9,817 accidents in the State. According to Sahu, 4,738 people lost their lives and 8,818 were injured.
In 2021, there were 10,984 traffic accidents that resulted in 5081 deaths and 9,782 injuries; in 2022, there were 11,663 accidents that resulted in 5467 deaths and 10,302 injuries. The Minister disclosed that while the injured parties receive compensation of Rs 50,000, the government is giving compensation to the relatives of a person killed in an undisclosed car accident amounting to Rs 2 lakh. She said that the government has given accident victims and their families a total of Rs 1568.5 lakh in compensation over the past five years.
The amount spent by the government increased to Rs 110.50 lakh in 2020 from Rs 51 lakh in 2029. In 2021 and 2022, the sums reached Rs 274.50 lakh and Rs 539 lakh, respectively. The minister informed the House that the amount of compensation awarded to accident victims in 2023 was Rs 593.50 lakh. In the last five years, the government has funded road safety awareness programs totaling Rs 7921 lakh, the Transport Minister informed the House.
