**Bhubaneswar**: In a bid to make roads safer and accident free, Odisha Government has decided to fix the black spots on National Highways and State Highways by end of December.
Odisha Chief Secretary AP Padhi told media persons after a review meeting held at State Secretariat here on Friday.
“As per the direction of a committee formed by the Supreme Court on road safety, we conduct this review meeting regularly to discuss various aspects of road safety,” Padhi informed reporters after the meeting.
He also said the Works Department has already identified around 235 black spots – 120 on National Highways and 115 on State Highways which contribute majorly to the road accidents and consequent fatalities in Odisha. We are trying to fix these vulnerable zones by taking some short-term measures by December 31 as it will take more time for the long-term ones.
In fact, the short term measures, including putting up signage, guardrails and rumblers, are going on and we are expecting to finish the work by end of December, the Chief Secretary added.
When asked about the long term measures, he said it includes widening and straightening of roads among others and expected that it will conclude by March, 2018.
Expressing concern over increasing road accidents even on rural roads, the Chief Secretary directed for adopting traffic calming measures on vulnerable locations along with traffic regulation during busy hours.
Worth mentioning, according to a Transport department survey, the national highways account for just two per cent of the total road network in Odisha. But when it comes to accidents, around 42% incidents were witnessed last year on its stretches.