Noida launches road safety week to bring down accidents

Noida: Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate BN Singh flagged off the administration’s road safety week, from October 14-20, at the Indus Valley Public School Noida

Noida: Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate BN Singh flagged off the administration’s road safety week, from October 14-20, at the Indus Valley Public School Noida Sector 62.

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The transport and traffic department will organise awareness programmes in schools, colleges, and other academic institutions and also conduct an intensive enforcement drive. The transport department said it has suspended licences of 17 school buses for various violations last week.

In Gautam Budh Nagar, 220 persons were killed and 393 injured in 481 accidents in the first five months of 2019, the traffic police data states.

BN Singh said there is a need to change the mindset of road users over road safety. “The government has observed that most accidents occur due to violation of road safety rules. Accidents also result in the loss of lives and untold misery for families. People die more in road accidents as compared to diseases. That is why people need to change their mindset and follow traffic rules,” he said.

Singh said the road safety week will be observed quarterly in Noida to bring down road accidents. Singh said if a school bus is found violating rules, action will be taken against the driver as well as the school management.

AK Jha, superintendent of police (traffic), said the traffic police is issuing fines manually and also electronically. “Eighty CCTV cameras will be installed across the city in due course. That will ensure that most parts of the city are covered and traffic rules enforced,” he said.

The administration also released a booklet on the kinds of traffic violations and the prescribed fines, as per the UP government recent revision in the UP Motor Vehicles Manual 1998. “In case of an accident, there is a provision for compensation to victims or their kin in case of death. The deceased’s kin would get ₹25,000 and the injured ₹12,500 in case of a hit and run. Similarly, in accidents involving a public transport vehicle, there is a provision for providing ₹40,000 as compensation to kin in case of death and ₹20,000 for those injured. The victims/kin need to file an application at the district magistrate’s office to claim the compensation,” the booklet states.

AK Pandey, assistant regional transport officer (ARTO), said the UP transport department also runs a toll-free helpline number (18001800151) to address transport related issues. He said people lack awareness about road safety.

The officials of the fire department also participated in the programme. Chief fire officer Arun Kumar said fire incidents in cars have increased recently. He advised people to avoid installing additional accessories from unauthorized vendors that may put a load on the vehicle’s wiring and spark fire.

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