Jammu, Feb 19: Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Wednesday called for strict enforcement of traffic regulations and creating awareness regarding road safety across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir so as to prevent incidence of road accidents.
At a meeting with the top functionaries of Transport department and Traffic Police at the Civil Secretariat Jammu, the Lt Governor asked the officers to identify the causes of accidents and take effective corrective measures with regard to the black spots.
According to an official press release, the Lt Governor directed the officers to prepare DPRs for establishing Trauma Centres on highways and also in border areas with frequent ceasefire violations.
He directed the officers to roll out an effective action plan for successful implementation of all road safety measures including interceptors, installation of GPS in patrol vehicles and equipping the Traffic Police with speed guns and other such advanced devices for proper traffic management.
He directed them to increase highway patrolling, install CCTVs in the areas witnessing increased violations of traffic norms and prepare a database of places requiring underpasses, service roads etc. He also directed for installation of traffic signages on all roads across J&K, especially the roads vulnerable to accidents.
The meeting was attended by Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor; Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education; Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Department; Dr. Asgar Hassan Samoon, Principal Secretary, Transport Department; Owais Ahmed, MD, RTC; Pradeep Kumar, Transport Commissioner, J&K; IGP Traffic, T Namgyal; Talat Parvez Rohella, Secretary, Higher Education; Prof. Veena Pandita, Chairperson, JKBOSE; representatives of Road Safety Council, NHAI, NHIDCL, IIT Jammu and other officials of the concerned departments.
The Lt Governor also reviewed the steps being taken in conducting the health check-ups of all the drivers and sought a report on the unfit drivers. He directed the officers to furnish a report of the driving institutes and put a third party audit check on the certifications by such institutes.
Stressing on removing encroachments and fixing responsibilities, the Lt Governor asked the Municipal Corporations and Development Authorities to intensity anti-encroachment drives and asked the officers to mobilize Mohalla committees and locals for removing encroachments, besides designating spaces for hawkers. He also laid special focus on removing encroachments from bus-stands and railway stations.
Regarding parking spaces, the Lt Governor asked the concerned officers to identify and notify parking spaces and prepare DPRs for multilevel parkings to address the problem.
The Lt Governor also stressed on sensitizing the general public through print and electronic media regarding the road safety measures and regulations, with active involvement of all stakeholders especially the youth and students, which can help in improving the traffic management system of J&K. He also called for inclusion of a chapter on Road Safety and Traffic Sense in the school academic curriculum and utilization of trained NCC and NSS cadets in traffic management.
The Lt Governor asked the officers to plug all unauthorized cuts along the road dividers on the national highways. He asked the Civil Administration and National Highway Authority that no such unauthorized cuts should be allowed, and further asked them to aware the general public about punitive action against those found responsible for any such act.
The Lt Governor also reviewed the compliance of directions passed in the previous meeting regarding road safety.
