Berhampur: As the 31st National Road Safety Week started from January 11 and would continue till January 17, Ganjam police have tightened their waist-belts to create extensive awareness among denizens.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Sarthak Ray inaugurated a seven-day long programme at Tata Benz square of Berhampur city with the support of NCC cadets.
In their bid to create awareness among people, the traffic police are instilling better road sense and ventilating the need of safe driving, by giving rose flowers, chocolates and leaflets to local bikers here. The awareness programme which began Saturday will spread across the city.
Likewise, the district Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange has conducted an orientation programme at Sanskriti Bhawan of Chhatrapur. He emphatically said, “An accident-death not only affects a person but affects the entire family.” Ganjam administration has been making efforts to minimise the road accidents by taking several steps through district-level and subdivision-level Road Safety Committees, he added.
Worthy to note, as per the white paper issued by Central government in 2018, nearly 1.5 lakh people died in road accidents occurred throughout the country. Similarly, out of the above figure about 32 thousand bikers died for not wearing helmets while riding.
Highlighting on the deaths and casualties in Odisha last year, Deputy Commissioner Transport Basant Kumar Behera said, “About 5,300 people died in road accidents and over 20,000 people had become physically-handicapped. In most cases, the road accidents occurred due to man-made causes like rash driving and drunken driving.”
The district Road Transport Officer Sanjay Biswal said, “Last year, 733 road accidents occurred in Ganjam district and the death toll was 385.”
On the occasion, ten persons were felicitated for extending helping hands to accident victims. Looking into the magnitude and gravity of problems in road safety, there is a need for the society at large to take cognizance of issues and to join hands to make road safety a social movement, observed an intellectual present at the event.
