‘4,287 road deaths in J&K between 2021-2025, NHs account for 1,255’

                                                                                         Table: J&K road deaths, 2021 to 2025

                                                     NA: NH-wise data for 2021 was not part of that reply, which covered 2022 to 2026

Srinagar, Jul 30: A total of 4,287 people were killed in road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir between 2021 and 2025, according to data tabled by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in two separate replies in the Lok Sabha this week, with National Highways alone accounting for 1,255 of these deaths, nearly 30 per cent of the total.

The overall five-year toll was given by Union Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari in response to a question by Shyamkumar Daulat Barve on road accidents, fatalities and road safety across all categories of roads. A separate reply to a question by Naveen Jindal and Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi, focused specifically on National Highways, showed that 1,255 of the 4,287 deaths occurred on NH stretches over the same period, with the remainder on state highways, district roads and other categories.

Pedestrians make up nearly a fourth of deaths

The data also showed 1,011 of the 4,287 fatalities over five years were pedestrians, close to a fourth of the total. Pedestrian deaths rose sharply in 2025 to 477, more than triple the 144 recorded in 2024, a jump the ministry’s own footnotes suggest may partly reflect a shift to eDAR-based reporting rather than a like-for-like rise.

18 to 25 age group worst affected on highways

Among National Highway fatalities specifically, for which the ministry provided an age-wise breakup, the 18 to 25 age group recorded the highest number of deaths over 2022 to 2025, followed closely by the below 18 and 25 to 35 groups, indicating that young people and minors bore the brunt of highway fatalities in J&K.

This age-wise breakup is available only for National Highway deaths, not for all road fatalities, as the government’s replies did not provide an age-wise split for the broader category.

Government response

The government said road accidents are the result of a complex interplay of human error, road conditions and vehicular factors, and cited a four-pronged strategy, Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Emergency Care, to address the issue. Measures include mandatory Road Safety Audits on all National Highways, AI based identification of 6,358 “black corridors” nationally through IIT Kanpur, enhanced compensation for hit and run victims, and the PM RAHAT cashless treatment scheme for accident victims, under which J&K has so far seen 472 claims initiated and 43 settled.