Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCRS) has initiated a detailed study to assess the implementation status of the road safety directions issued to the States. In this regard, a team of consultants engaged by SCCRS visited Odisha for 15 days in the month of June. The team assessed the extent and quality of actions taken by the State Government.
As per the compliance report shared with the Transport department, Odisha has scored 66.0% and is categorised as ‘High Performers’ in implementation of the various road safety directions. They have specially praised a few initiatives of the department including Project Rakshak, Vahak and National Road Safety Short Film Festival.
The team has also praised helmet compliance in city of Bhubaneswar.
The agency also praised the smart queue system implemented at RTO, Bhubaneswar. The report states that the smart queue system is working perfectly fine with the help of complementing infrastructure.
As per the report, it has been observed that while state is in the higher performer category, still there is a lot of improvements required to be done. On-ground effectiveness also needs special focus in enforcing the rules and laws adherence, equipment and infrastructure availability and functioning.
In the institutional category which includes functioning of Lead Agency and utilisation of Road Safety fund, the agency has given 19% score out of 25 %. Similarly 15.7 % out 25 % has been obtained for enforcement and 14.4 % out of 25 % score is given for engineering. Out of 15 %, 10.5 % in emergency care and out of 10 %, 6.3 % in education score is given by the committee.
Best Practices in Odisha
During the field visit, the road safety team has observed various activities adopted by Odisha that can be considered as best practices and can be recommended to other states as well. Various best practices observed are as follows:
a) Project Rakshak – For immediate assistance to the road accident victims at the accident spot First Responders are being trained under project ‘RAKSHAK’. The project is first of its kind state level programme where in 30,000 volunteers staying or working at the eateries and different business establishments near accident prone areas are being trained as first responders to road accident victims.
b) Project Vahak- The agency lauded the efforts of STA to train Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) drivers of the State under project ‘VAHAK’. It is a first of its kind state level HMV Driver’s refresher training programme. In the three day long residential training HMV drivers are being trained about driving skills, fuel efficiency, best first aid, road safety and road signage. This will hone the skills of drivers and in turn help in reducing accident in the state.
c) Helmet compliance & driver behaviour in Bhubaneswar- The report mentioned that Bhubaneswar traffic police has complied helmet rule for driver & pillion rider. The traffic police has complied stoppage of vehicle before the stop line at intersection. During the field visit as well the road safety team has observed the same. The same has been achieved with the help of proper enforcement on the field as well as with the help of CCTV cameras installed in different part of the city.
d) National Road Safety Short Film Festival – The team praised State Transport Authority’s initiative to organise National Road Safety Short Film Festival, 2022 a first-of-its-kind event in the country. There was an overwhelming response for the festival. A total of 230 entries were received in 6 languages from 8 states. As many as 2300 people were involved in the film making process.The 42 shortlisted films were screened at a local multiplex in Rourkela and Town Hall in Puri. The idea and its execution was appreciated by the stakeholders, media and common people at large. A few other states have also shown interest in organising similar events.
e) Driver Training Institute, Chhatia- A fully functional driver training institute has been established in Odisha at Chhatia for heavy vehicle drivers. The institute has been developed through Public Private Partnership (PPP) in coordination with Society of Govt. of Odisha and Ashok Leyland.
f) Smart Queue System at RTO, Bhubaneswar- The agency praised the smart queue system implemented at RTO, Bhubaneswar. As per the report, the smart queue system is working perfectly fine with the help of complementing infrastructure. Entire RTO building has been designed in such a manner that even a person without zero knowledge on how to approach the RTO can easily access the same.
g) ITMS project- The Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) project is implemented in Sundargarh District covering the following municipal areas of Sundargarh city, Rajgangpur and Birmitrapur.
It is pertinent to mention that as per Supreme Court Committee guidelines, the department is working towards construction of Truck Terminals and comprehensive Trauma System Care Plan. Road Safety training is being provided to Engineers, commercial drivers, traffic police personnel, highway engineers and planners in road safety in a systematic process through a well-planned training calendar.
Soon the command-and-control centre for CCTV/ANPR will be functional and the footage will be monitored continuously for issuing E challans to the traffic violators. The frequency of enforcement drive has been increased and a consistent effort in this regard will help us reducing road accidents in the state.
