Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Monday launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Sadak Suraksha Yojana Samman’ and introduced an alert bell provision at the accident-prone Kalinga Ghat, as part of the state’s initiatives to strengthen road safety.
Addressing a function to mark the National Road Safety Month, Majhi said, “From today onwards, road safety has been accepted as a part of good governance. I hope that with this, government officials will be more vigilant about it.”
Under the scheme, all districts, educational institutions and private institutions will be honoured based on the steps they take for road safety.
Districts that perform well will be rewarded, and those with poor performance will be held accountable, the CM said.
Majhi said the state government has been following four ‘E’s for road safety — Education, Enforcement, Engineering (strengthening safety systems by applying advanced engineering techniques in communication infrastructure and vehicles), and Emergency (by providing prompt medical assistance).
Along with the compliance with these four rules, the CM added two more ‘E’s — Environment and Evaluation.
He suggested proper compliance with the vehicle pollution rules and an appropriate rating of the results of existing road safety rules.
He said various road safety programmes can be changed or further improved based on this rating.
As part of the initiative, the CM inaugurated a warning bell at Kalinga Ghat on the Ganjam-Kandhamal border. The pilot project will alert drivers from both directions to prevent accidents.
This apart, an MoU was signed with IIT Kharagpur for better traffic management in the twin cities of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.
Majhi also dedicated 15 charging stations to the people of Bhubaneswar and said 85 more are being installed across the state.
The CM also inaugurated 14 new Atal Bus Stands across 10 districts at a cost of Rs 156.53 crore, and flagged off 100 new BS-6 environment-friendly buses worth Rs 46 crore under the State Road Transport Corporation, replacing older vehicles.
Majhi also launched the ‘Closed Loop Smart Transit Card’ or smart card system for buses run by the transport corporation. Using this card, passengers can buy cashless tickets and travel with convenience.
The CM also flagged off 25 new e-buses for Berhampur city.
