**Bhubaneswar:** The school text books will now have a chapter on ‘Road Safety’ this year, informed the State Transport Minister, Ramesh Majhi. Moreover, video clips regarding the road safety are to be played in the cinema halls to create awareness among the public.
“47,766 driving licences were suspended by the State Government due to over speeding,
overloading, drink and drive cases and use of mobile phones during driving. Eight districts in the State are more accident prone, namely Ganjam, Sundergarh, Angul, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Balasore and Sambalpur. The Collectors of these districts have been asked to submit a road map regarding the cause of so many accidents and submit the report to the Government very soon,” according to the Minister.
A meeting was conducted by State Road Safety Council under the chairmanship of the State Transport Minister, Ramesh Majhi on Wednesday. It was attended by eminent personalities like Police Commissioner, Transport Commissioner, Asst Commissioner of Police (ACP). The main agenda of the meeting was to review the number of fatal accidents in the State and the reasons behind it.
“Different reasons for the fatal accidents were analysed in the meeting. It was decided to form a narrative on each accident and the ways it could have been avoided as per the suggestions made by the officials from Kerala. There are cases of drunken driving, wrong side driving or any stray animal coming all of a sudden causing accidents.” said R.Balkrishnan, Development Commissioner.
According to the minister, the Works Department and National Highway Department have identified the black spots at various places and started the ratification work, the audit of some roads have also begun. Moreover, different measures are being taken to make the trauma care centres functional at different places.
