E-Paper
Chandigarh records zero road fatality in a month for first time in decade
THE WAY LE CORBUSIER INTENDED: Experts suggest people should continue to ditch cars and walk to their neighbourhood grocery stores in an effort to keep traffic congestion and pollution in the city from reaching the previous dangerous levels
The curfew set up in the city due to the Covid-19 outbreak has presented a silver lining. As per the data released by the UT traffic police, the month of April this year was the first month in at least a decade without a single fatal road accident reported.
The total number of road fatalities in the year 2019 was 98. The number of fatalities till April 2019 was 23, which have come down to 13 this year for the same period. The April of 2019 itself had reported four fatal accidents.
Till 2010, there wasn’t a single month without a fatal accident being reported in the city. No data was available for the last time when there were zero accidents in a month in the city.
CHALLENGE WILL START AFTER LOCKDOWN
Deputy inspector general of police (DIG, Traffic) Shashank Anand said the result wasn’t much cause for celebration and was along expected lines. “Due to the curfew there has hardly been any traffic on the roads and a large number of nakas have been set up. So fatal accidents were bound to come down,” he said, adding that the challenge will start when normal resumes.
He added that the traffic police will push people to adopt cycling as a means of transportation after the restrictions were lifted: “Cycling will help maintain social distancing while reducing pollution and road fatalities. Even the World Health Organisation has recommended that people cycle to move around whilst Covid-19 is active.”
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP, Traffic East) Charanjit Singh Virk added that the same sensibility used to tackle Covid-19 should also be used towards road accidents as they also cause a huge loss of lives daily in India.
‘USE POST-LOCKDOWN PERIOD TO ENCOURAGE CYCLING, USE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT’
Road safety activist Harpreet Singh said the authorities should use this time to push people towards other modes of transport. “An odd-even format for vehicles can be started in the city after the lockdown, so that people can adopt public transport or cycling. We are being presented with a second chance to keep traffic congestion and pollution in the city from reaching the previous dangerous levels,” he said.
A member of the UT Road Safety Council, Harman Sidhu, said after the curfew is lifted, a spike in accident cases may follow. “A large number of people are likely to come out on the streets and the authorities will have to be on their toes to prevent accidents. People should continue to ditch their cars and walk to their neighborhood grocery stores the way Le Corbusier intended,” he said.
