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IIT Madras’ Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) has signed a MoU with the Government of Chhattisgarh to roll out data-driven road safety interventions across the state.

The agreement was signed on 23 July 2026 in Raipur between Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian (Head of CoERS) and Shri S. Prakash (Secretary & Commissioner, Transport Department, Chhattisgarh).

What’s the Plan?

The programme is called Data-Driven Hyperlocal Interventions (DDHI). Instead of one-size-fits-all solutions, it focuses on local realities — especially in tribal and mining-heavy areas where roads, vehicle types, and traffic patterns are very different from the rest of India.

In the first phase, nine priority districts will get direct technical support:

• Raipur
• Raigarh
• Surajpur
• Balod
• Baloda Bazar
• Jashpur
• Surguja
• Mahasamund
• Jangir

These districts will receive district-level road safety assessments, targeted engineering fixes, capacity-building for officials, and continuous monitoring.

How It Works

CoERS will use its Sanjaya platform to help officials identify black spots and emerging crash locations using both recorded crash data and local insights. The idea is to enable quick, low-cost interventions that district authorities can approve and implement without long bureaucratic delays.

This is not a one-off project. CoERS is already working with 17 other state governments under the same DDHI framework, which is supported by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

Why This Matters

Road accidents in India still claim tens of thousands of lives every year. Chhattisgarh’s Transport Minister Shri Kedar Kashyap put it simply: every accident causes irreparable loss to a family. The goal is not just fewer numbers on paper, but a system where people actually reach home safely.

Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, called the partnership a strong example of how technical institutes and state governments can tackle real societal problems together. Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian added that interventions in tribal and mining belts need to be designed around local terrain, vehicle mix, and community behaviour — not copied from elsewhere.

The Bigger Goal

The collaboration supports India’s national target of reducing road accident deaths by 50% by 2030. By combining IIT Madras’ data and engineering expertise with on-ground administrative power in Chhattisgarh, the hope is faster action and fewer fatalities.

In short: better data, local solutions, and a clear focus on saving lives on Chhattisgarh’s roads.