Bhubaneswar: The State Government has decided to provide funds to District Road Safety Committees across Odisha to undertake projects like painting medians, pasting reflective tapes, conducting awareness programmes, and installing CC cameras, which will aid in reducing road accidents.
In a letter to Collectors and Superintendents of Police, Principal Secretary of Commerce & Transport, Usha Padhee stated, “These initiatives become important for the Districts having major SHs, NHs, Urban Centres etc. It has been proposed to provide funds to the DRSCs to take up initiatives for reduction of accidents and fatalities.”
“All districts have been requested to hold the meeting of the District Road Safety Committees (DRSC) once in every month to review the road safety scenario. In view of the importance of the issue, it has been decided to provide funds to the DRSCs for taking up various road safety activities.”
The district authorities have been asked to submit detailed proposals indicating the requirement of funds by June 20, after approval in the DRSC for placement of Funds.
As per a Crime Branch report, in 2022, total of 5467 persons were killed in road accidents at a growth rate of 7.6% compared to 2021. The situation has further worsened during the months of January and February 2023. There is a growth in fatalities by 24.91% compared to the months of January and February of the year 2022, Padhee’s letter further stated.
There is growth in fatalities by more than 50% in the Districts like: Deogarh, Gajapati, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kendrapada, Khorda, Malkanagiri and Nuapada. “All the districts are being impressed upon from time to time to initiate Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Emergency Care measures for reduction of road accidents and fatalities in the Districts,” it added.
