Cuttack: The fatality rate in road accidents in Odisha has come down by 4.01% in July, 2022 compared to the same month last year. Total 383 people died during the month this year against 399 deaths in same month the previous year.
In first quarter of the year, the state recorded a negative growth of 10.37% in accidents and 7.55% negative growth in fatalities. While 2,895 road accidents resulting in 1359 deaths were registered during same period, the figure was 3,230 accidents and 1470 deaths in corresponding period the previous year, according to a release of State Transport Authority (STA).
But second quarter of 2022 saw a substantial increase in accident and fatalities in comparison to 2021 for the same period. Against 2,331 accidents and 1085 deaths in 2nd quarter of 2021, there were 3,134 accidents and 1,490 fatalities in the same period of the last year.
“During COVID-19 period, restrictions were imposed on movement of vehicles which resulted in less number of accidents. The high growth in accident and fatalities during the 2nd quarter of 2022 is due to regular movement of vehicles,” said Lalmohan Sethi, Additional Commissioner Transport, Road Safety & Enforcement.
He further said the negative growth in fatalities has been achieved due to strict enforcement of road safety norms across the state. In 2021-22, total 2, 47,945 e-challans were issued whereas in 2022-23, a total of 2,86,682 challans have already been issued between April-September. The frequency of enforcement drive has been increased and a consistent effort in this regard will help us reducing road accidents in the state, he added.
Odisha has adopted a four-fold strategy to make the roads safe through 4Es- enforcement, education, improvement in road engineering and emergency care. With a score of 66%, the state has been categorised as ‘high performer’ in implementing road safety measures during audit conducted by the Supreme Court Committee on road safety.
Around 11,000 first responders staying near accident prone areas have been trained across the state under Operation Rakshak till date. In yet another bid to improve road safety scenario, the state has initiated refresher training programme ‘Vahak’ for heavy vehicle drivers to improve their skills and help reduce accident in the state. So far, around 1500 HMV drivers have been trained at HMV Driving School, Chhatia.
With an aim to make roads 100% road signage compliant, the state has started a unique initiative of road signage audit. Audit of 3,059 km of NH and SH has been completed and report submitted to the stakeholders for necessary rectification. Further, additional 5,000 km road audit has been proposed.
The Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) project is implemented in Sundargarh district covering the municipal areas of Sundargarh, Rajgangpur and Birmitrapur. 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.
Besides, Odisha organised National Road Safety Short Film Festival, 2022, a first-of-its-kind event in the country. There was an overwhelming response to the festival. A total of 230 entries were received in 6 languages from 8 states.
