Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launched 'iRASTE', an Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm in Nagpur, Maharashtra on Saturday. iRaste has been launched with the aim of reducing accidents to half in the city, which is the largest in the Vidarbha district. 

iRaste has been developed through the collaborative efforts of the central government, Intel, INAI, IIIT-Hyderabad, CSIR-CRRI (Central Road Research Institute), Mahindra & Mahindra and the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). The project will help in vehicle safety, mobility analysis and road infrastructure safety to help Nagpur move towards a 'Vision Zero' accident scenario, a release said. According to Gadkari, 1,500 accidents occur in Nagpur every year, claiming at least 250 lives.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation vehicles will be installed with collision avoidance technology to reduce accidents and near misses up to 60%; the sensors will identify the dynamic risk of the Nagpur road network to help agencies prevent and repair accident-prone zones, also called black spots, the release added.

The AI system will furhter help identify and prioritise data such as road surface condition, signage, marking, signal details, type of vehicles, models in use and utility assets. 

"The crash severity index (which is found by calculating fatalities and serious injuries in an accident) in Nagpur was 21.22 in 2018, 24.83 in 2019, and 70.17 in 2020, this increase coming during the COVID-19 pandemic (when most areas were under lockdown), which is not a good thing at all," he said.

Intel India Country Head Nivruti Rai and IITH Director Professor PJ Narayan, who spoke on the occasion, said the 'iRASTE' project would go a long way in creating a blueprint for the country in order to bring accidents to zero.