Chandigarh (Aaj Samaj)Taking major steps to reduce the rate of road accident deaths in the state, Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Muller today formulated a multi-pronged strategy to improve road safety in the state. He emphasized adopting a zero-tolerance policy toward traffic violations and made many important decisions. Chairing the 15th meeting of Punjab State Road Safety Council (PSRSC), held in Punjab Forest, Muller announced holding of mandatory monthly review meetings to monitor departmental work.
He clarified that strict administrative measures will be taken against departments that do not meet the objectives. Expressing displeasure over the action report of various departments, the Cabinet Minister said that if any deficiency is found in the action report of any department during the monthly meeting and the department fails to meet the set targets, then strict action will be taken. against the department in question. the officials.
During the meeting, the Health Department was directed to ensure availability of complete medical equipment, especially to address staff shortages in trauma centers and increase the rescue rate of road accident victims. In a major initiative, the Transport Department has decided to launch a pilot project of CCTV surveillance in five high-risk districts (red zone), namely Patiala, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar, SBS Nagar and Sri Fatehgarh Sahib.
The Cabinet Minister said that this project will be expanded to the entire state in a phased manner. He further said that online challan system should be considered on Chandigarh lines to impose fines on violators of traffic rules. Taking an important decision, the Transport Minister approved the release of Rs 55 million for the establishment of Road Safety Force (SSF).
This force has been equipped with 144 highway patrol vehicles. He said preliminary assessments have shown that there has been a 45.5 per cent reduction in road traffic deaths since the introduction of the SSF. An additional amount of Rs 7 million was sanctioned for the purchase of electronic equipment to support this force. At Müller’s suggestion, the meeting discussed the decision to carry out an independent audit of all black spots removed in the state.
He said that independent agencies dealing with issues related to road safety, such as IIT Delhi’s Center for Transport Research and Injury Prevention (which is a WHO Center of Excellence for Road Safety) and the Department of Highways and Road Transport of the Government of India, Road safety auditors included under the PEC framework, Chandigarh will be entrusted with the task of conducting third-party audits of identified black spots in the state to monitor the results of improvement of these points blacks. And proposals can be explored.
