Assam: Over 1,000 killed in road accidents in Jan-Mar period of 2026

More than 1,000 people have lost their lives in over 4,200 road accidents across Assam in the first three months of 2026, according to official data. In a statement, the Transport department of Assam government on Tuesday said that the state recorded 4,219 road accidents and 1,008 fatalities from January to March in 2026, as against 4,232 accidents and 1,035 fatalities in the first quarter of 2025. ''While the number of accidents remained almost at the same level as last year, nine districts -- Guwahati City, Kamrup, Nagaon, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Golaghat, Barpeta, Dhubri and Hojai -- accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the fatalities,'' it added. However, several high-volume districts, including Sonitpur, Nagaon, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Biswanath, recorded a significant year-on-year reduction in fatalities, reflecting the impact of focused district-level interventions and sustained enforcement, the release said. Assam Chief Secretary Ravi Kotha chaired a state-level road safety review meeting on Monday to comprehensively review the road safety performance across all 35 districts for the first quarter of 2026. He observed that fatalities declined by only 2.6 per cent year-on-year despite no increase in crash volume, meaning that roughly 11 lives are still being lost on Assam's roads every day -- indicating that crash severity remains high. The statement said, ''He further noted that while Assam's severity index of 0.24 is better than the national average of around 0.36 (NCRB 2022), crashes in the state remain disproportionately deadly compared to safer states such as Kerala (0.10) and Tamil Nadu (0.13).'' In light of this, district-wise figures were scrutinised in detail, with particular focus on districts reporting increases in accidents and fatalities. A deep root cause analysis was undertaken to identify contributing factors and specific high-risk accident locations across all 35 districts. The chief secretary directed that after each accident, the District Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, as part of the District Road Safety Committee (DRSC), must personally review the case in detail and ensure prompt corrective measures. ''These include rectification of black spots, installation of appropriate signage, public awareness initiatives and strengthened enforcement. Emphasising that every life lost is one too many, he issued time-bound directives,'' the release said.

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