JAMMU: Financial Commissioner Finance, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, today chaired a meeting of Road Safety Fund Management Committee (RSFMC) here and approved the action plan for the year ahead.
The meeting was attended by DG Budget, DG Codes and several other members through their representatives.
Commissioner Secretary Transport, Hirdesh Kumar attended it virtually from Srinagar.
Dr Mehta expressed that road safety is a significant administrative affair and demands serious efforts from all of us. He said that road accidents singly takes maximum number of lives than diseases or calamities. So it is exigent upon all of the stakeholders to devout considerable amount of energy and resources towards preventing these from happening.
The FC remarked that the Government is mindful of the requirements needed to prevent the occurrence of fatalities on roads and is committed to make necessary interventions. He maintained that awareness and responsibility together are imperative to reduce the number of mishaps occurring on roads.
The FC directed the officers to disburse all the compensation claims received 0from road accident victims in a single day. He exclaimed that this is a welfare fund and is meant to give succour to the victims when needed most. He stressed to make it useful for them by extending it immediately so that it can be utilized in hospitalization and cure thereby reduce loss of human lives.
The committee gave in-principle nod to different measures suggested by the transport department for making road safety and enforcement better and efficient. The department was asked to procure20 mobile vehicle interceptors, one for each district to carry out better supervision and management of traffic. It was also asserted that the department will also provide 213 motor cycles to equal number of police stations being first responders in case of road accidents.
The Commissioner Secretary Transport detailed that in order to manage traffic better and ensure discipline on roads the department has worked out requirement of cranes and it was given nod to procure 26 cranes and 16 highway patrolling vehicles for effective administration, monitoring and enforcement of traffic rules.
The committee also accepted the proposal of the department to acquire some other gear necessary for smooth traffic management. These include hi-tech body worn cameras, installation of road safety furniture like signages, parapets, crash barriers etc, erection of traffic assistance booths, installation of traffic enforcement cameras, sensor oriented PA systems on the roads and highways.
Besides these the retrofitting of already procured vehicles and motorcycles, annual maintenance contract of vehicles was also approved. The committee further asked the department to conduct workshops, seminars both for the awareness of drivers and commoners. It also decided to establish the road safety clubs for the effective awareness and implementation of traffic rules and providing assistance in case of mishaps.
