The Haryana government has decided to opt for a 15-point strategy to reduce road accidents by 20 per cent within a year, which includes repairing roads illegally cut off by dhaba and petrol pump owners on highways and keeping a close watch on road accidents of illegal alcohol sales.
From this year to November, there were 9,951 traffic accidents in Haryana, killing more than 4,500 people and injuring nearly 8,500. Official figures for accidents in the state over the past six years show that there has been a significant reduction in such accidents on state roads. As the state grapples with Covid, road accidents fell sharply in 2020 compared to 2019 (down 16 per cent) due to limited movement of vehicles during the height of the pandemic. The number of accidents in 2021 is also relatively low compared to 2019 and other years. As of November this year, the number of accidents has slightly increased compared with 2021, but if the figures of previous years are compared with 2022, they are still low.
Haryana Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma chaired the meeting of the National Road Safety Council on Wednesday, where he said the transport sector should improve upon the state’s achievements in this regard.
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High qualityDuring the meeting, Navdeep Singh Virk, Chief Secretary, Department of Transport, Haryana, said that the Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD) project of the Joint Ministry of Transport has been launched in all states and has also been implemented in Haryana. Here, the Department of Transportation has become the nodal authority for the project. The project aims to collect data and analyze the causes of accidents. It is also used to analyze accident hot spots and develop strategies to prevent accidents at these locations.
Apart from the transport department, nodal officers from Police, Health, NHAI, PWD, HSIDC and Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran will also carry out road safety projects at state and district levels.
Navdeep Virk shared a 15-point strategy to reduce road accidents while reviewing the action report on the previous meetings of the Road Safety Committee.
Some of them are:
1. Before March 31, 2023, repair traffic accident-prone points, speed bumps/speed bumps, signs, road markings, cat’s eyes, contour lines and black spots.
2. Install reflective panels and reflective tapes on roads, tractor trolleys and other vehicles; stray animals
3. NHAI conducts safety audit on NH-1 (44) Ambala to Sonipat route
4. Appointment of road safety assistants on a contract basis.
5. Each road construction department/agency shall conduct an internal audit of its roads/highways and report to the lead agency.
6. Illegally intercepting roads should be filed with the police
7. The tax department will check for illegal liquor outlets on roads and highways.
8. Detected 213 black spots
9. Held 175 meetings of the District Road Safety Committee
10. Instructions to connect the NHAI toll-free number 1033 and the Police toll-free number 1073 to the helpline number 112.
