Parliament was told that 9,438 Indians died from pothole-related accidents in 5 years. Uttar Pradesh alone contributed 5,127 of those deaths — a 54% national share that would make any market leader proud.
Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari informed Parliament in February 2026 that pothole-related road deaths have risen 53% over five years, with 9,438 citizens killed between 2020 and 2024. Uttar Pradesh, never one to be outdone, contributed 5,127 of those deaths — a commanding 54% national market share that would make any Fortune 500 company weep with envy. UP's annual trajectory tells its own story: deaths climbed from a respectable baseline to 1,369 in 2024 alone. Madhya Pradesh (969 deaths) and Tamil Nadu (612) trail far behind in this grim leaderboard. The total also produced 19,956 injuries, of which 9,670 were "grievous." Meanwhile, states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Goa somehow reported zero pothole deaths, suggesting either miraculous roads or miraculous record-keeping. The data was presented in a written reply, presumably because saying "our roads killed nearly ten thousand people via holes" out loud would be harder to spin as progress.