Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 11: Alarmed at the sharp rise in accidents on city roads, a group of students, volunteers and medicos on Sunday took out a rally in the city in order to create awareness among the public on the issue of road safety.
The event, which was organised by the Sankha Dhwani Raasta Surakhya Samiti as part of the 26th Road Safety Awareness Week, witnessed the convergence of several enthusiastic participants who held placards and banners on road safety measures that they had made especially for the event.
The volunteers also requested commuters to comply with traffic rules. The rally which started near Ram Mandir ended at Master Canteen Square.
“News of road mishaps that often appears in newspapers really disappoints me. I have seen people flouting traffic norms several times just to save a few seconds. Will a couple of seconds make any difference? I just came here to try and persuade motorists to follow traffic rules,” says 16-year-old Shashi Kant Pradhan, who was carrying a banner with him.
The rally was flagged off by transport minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi. Speaking during the event, Majhi said, “The population and number of vehicles in the city have witnessed a massive surge in the past few years. We regularly hear incidents of road accidents. In the last 2-3 years, many people have lost their lives in road mishaps. The most unfortunate part is that the ones who are mostly affected are people below the age group of 40. We must need to create awareness among motorists so that such unfortunate incidents are averted.”
Niranjan Sahoo, Khurda district collector who was present during the event, said, “Many incidents which take place are actually preventable. People need to be more responsible when it comes to driving. I request parents not to entrust their wards with vehicles until the children turn 18 years old.”
The collector also drew attention to the dangerous habit of talking on the phone while driving, and said this was quite prevalent. He added that such people not only put their own lives at risk but also those of others by doing so.
Sankha Dhwani Raasta Surakhya Samiti secretary Prakash Mohapatra spoke of how their organisation has been holding such events every year. “As a part of the Central government’s initiative, we organise Road Safety Week every year. We feel there is an urgent need to raise traffic awareness. Every year, a whopping 1.5 lakh lives are lost in the country and around 2.5-3 lakh people get injured in accidents. Many such mishaps can be averted if people follow traffic rules and drive carefully. People need to understand that their carelessness plays havoc in their family and ruins several lives. Many families lose their breadwinners because of rash driving,” Mohapatra said.
