The event was attended by State transport and Public Works department (PWD) Secretaries from various states alongside a nodal officer appointed by each state. Union Transport and Highway Secretary says Centre and states need better coordination to road accidents and address road safety concerns.
India is working on road safety issues to meet targets set under UN Decade of Action with the vision of road fatality reduction by 50 pct by 2020. With road accidents on rise, government is keen on a dedicated body to facilitate better safety and traffic management. National Road Safety and Traffic Management Authority will oversee such activity in India, and is to be operating before new Motor vehicle amendment bill 2014 is passed.
State safety authorities are warranted to enforce an unified driving license system to reduce license duplication at regional transport offices. In the larger good of things, an unified approach will help meet safety standards in construction, focus on safer road design, strengthen vehicle inspection norms and pave the way for better trauma care. A focused approach will help avoid Delhi NCR like situation where National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered a ban on ten year old diesel vehicles. NGT has no jurisdiction on such issues says Chhibber.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is keen on a multi-sectoral approach to achieving road safety targets. In 2013, 1,37,572 people died in fatal road accidents. All India state government meet on road safety was organised by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and International Road Federation (IRF). Today’s meet evaluated various road safety actions undertaken by State Governments and to study the assistance they may require from the Ministry.
A presentation was made by each state representative to highlight road safety, uniqueness, advantages, bottlenecks, engineering, education, social media interaction, legislation, trauma care and efforts being undertaken. This will help identify the support required from the Ministry and IRF to achieve targets under UN Decade of Action says K K Kapila, Chairman, International Road Federation (IRF).
The concluding session summed up state performance compared to targets, and helps identify areas of support from MoRTH and IRF in paving the way forward. Sanjay Bandhopadhyay, Joint Secretary, MoRTH, V.L.Patanakar, Director, Indian Academy of Highhway Engineers, R.K.Pandey,Chief Engineer, MoRTH, Dr M/C Misra, Director, Trauma care, AIIMS, Rohit Baluja, President, IRTE, and Dr Muktesh Chander, Spl Commissioner Traffic, Delhi Police were in attendance.
