CM stresses upon strengthening emergency services and trauma care
· Rs 50 crore allocated for years 2015-17 for rectifying identified black spots.
· CM stresses upon use of more IT tools in traffic and road management.
· Road Accident Data Management System to be implemented.
Vijyender SharmaDharamshala, 12 June - Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh today underlined the need to strengthen emergency services and trauma care to save precious human lives which are lost in road accidents. He said that intelligent transport system was the need of hour and infrastructure investments should take it into account.
He was speaking in the Third Meeting of the Group of Minister's on Road Safety and Ease of Transport organised at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital, Tanda in Kangra district today.
Shri Virbhadra Singh said that State Government had given top priority to the road sector, however, this sector in hilly states involved several issues like high cost of construction and maintenance. In the light of available infrastructure, the State had been continuously facing the issue of road safety and evolving a mechanism of reducing accidents, he said.
The Chief Minister said that there were just 288 kms of length of motorable roads in the State at the time of independence and as on date, the State had a strong network of 34,359 kms roads and 1913 bridges. He said that out of 17,000 census villages, over 10,000 villages had been connected with roads in the State.
He said the road safety affects all and more particularly the poor and the injuries place a heavy burden on the household finances of the victims and their families. To address the problems, effective steps including road design, engineering, driver behavior, training, skills, traffic management, emergency medical care, evacuation of victims, dedicated services like 108 needed to be taken care. He said that there was need to highlight National Accident Relief Policy and a fund should be created for road safety. He said that a road map should be formulated for the next decade with a view to reduce accidents by half by the year 2025. He also stressed upon use of more IT tools in traffic and road management along-with road safety audit.
He said that 1099 persons lost their lives in road accidents during 2014 and 1096 in 2015 whereas 5576 and 5108 people were injured during this period respectively in the State. The injuries in the hill states were life long, he said adding that several people expire on account of such injuries which were later classified as accidental deaths. He said that though Himachal Pradesh accounts for only 0.54 percent of the total population of the country but it was one of the States which constitutes high risk areas reporting higher rates of accidental deaths.
The Chief Minister said that the Himachal Government had allocated Rs. 50 crore each for the financial years 2015-17 for engineering measures to rectify identified black spots. The State had embarked upon a project with the support from World Bank, under the State Roads Project to implement the Road Accident Data Management System (RADMS) which would help in collecting the road accident data and then analyzing it. He also underlined the need to invest more on road engineering.
He urged the Government of India to provide sufficient funds for hill states like Himachal Pradesh which have limited resources, in order to speed up the pace of road works and to ensure road safety to a great extent.
He thanked the Union Transport Minister Shri Nitin Gadakari for announcing new National Highways for the State with a view to improve infrastructure, boosting tourism and also addressing issues of road safety. He also welcomed the step of the Government of India to have four lanes for traffic where traffic count was more than 10000 passenger car unit (PCU) and Bharat Parimala Yojana which aimed at developing 7000 kilometers, the Bharat Setu Project and the Rail Over Bridge (ROB) Policy.
Shri Virbhadra Singh urged the Union Government not to restrict ROB approval only for National Highways, but also to allow the State to undertake ROB and rural and other category roads as money deposited with the Railways takes years to even start the work.
Transport Minister of Himachal Pradesh Shri G.S Bali, who presided over the function, demanded that hilly states should be given special priority in taking up road safety measures keeping in view tough topographical conditions and other challenges. He said that road safety plans should not be made for State and National Highways only, rather PMGSY and village roads should also be covered along-with providing emergency care system.
Shri Bali stressed upon developing more parking areas and to declare vehicle parking over fly-overs as offence as it was one of the major reasons for road accidents. He also suggested for including road safety in the school curriculum so that the sense of road safety and discipline could be inculcated amongst the young citizens.
Public Works and Transport Minister of Rajasthan Shri Younis Khan, who is also the Chairman of Group of Minister's on Road Safety also spoke on the occasion. He also announced to constitute a Sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri G. S Bali, which would give its suggestions on road safety and a detailed report would be submitted to the Government of India.
Additional Chief Secretaries Shri Narendra Chauhan and Shri Tarun Shridhar gave detailed presentations on Road Safety Measures and Status of the Roads in Himachal Pradesh.
Transport Ministers of Jharkhand, Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Telangana, Mizoram, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Vice Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and MLA Shri Ravi Thakur, Secretary, Ministry of Surface Transport Shri Sanjay Mitra, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development Shri J.S Mathur, Additional Chief Secretary Power and Revenue Shri Tarun Shridhar, Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister Shri T.G Negi, Principal Secretary, Transport Shri Sanjay Gupta. Former MLA Sh Surinder Kaku and other senior officers of the Union and State Governments were present on the occasion.
.0.Contact Number is 09736276343Mobile
No comments:
Post a Comment