BHUBANESWAR: The
commissionerate police have decided to launch a website to provide a wide range of information pertaining to
road safety lessons,
traffic rules and updates on traffic snarl or diversions to citizens. A
private IT firm has been assigned to develop the website of the city traffic police.
“We will ensure that the proposed website is interactive and user friendly. Citizens can send their suggestions and grievances on the portal. Efforts will be made to update commuters about traffic diversions,” commissioner of police Y B Khurania told TOI. Police said traffic management is one of their priority areas in view of vehicular explosion. At present the city’s vehicle population stands at nearly 11 lakh.
Sources said the proposed website will have details of challans issued to the violators. “We are planning to include this feature where traffic violators can check their challan and registration numbers. The website will also show a picture of the vehicle that has been challaned,” a traffic police officer said.
At least 600 persons died in road accidents here every year since 2015. “We will sensitise road users about five golden rules of road safety. In every fortnight, we will launch a campaign on different a road safety rule. We will also send group messages to people,” Khurania said.
After successful launch of ‘studenttraffic volunteer’ (STV) scheme in which college students currently regulate traffic in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack for past one year, the police now plans to introduce community traffic system in the smart city. Under the proposed community traffic volunteer (CTV) project, local youth will regulatetraffic in their areas.
“We have sent the proposal to the government for approval. Just like student traffic volunteers are paid Rs 100 for performing duty for three hours a day, we have proposed to the government for payment of some honorarium to the community traffic volunteers,” Khurania said. The top cop says that a number of young citizens have been approaching the police, seeking permission to help the police in regulating traffic at different junctions.
The state government recently approved creation of a second traffic police station here to control the burgeoning traffic in the growing capital. The proposed second traffic police station will come in Chandrasekharpur area here. The second traffic police station will control vehicular movements and manage traffic in Nandankanan, Chandrasekharpur, Infocity, Jatani, Tamando, Khandagiri, Chandaka and Nayapalli areas.
Deaths due to road accidents across the state jumped to 1387 this quarter from 1218 reported in the first three months last year, revealed official statistics during a review meeting by chief secretary Aditya Padhi here on Friday.
During the review meeting, it was found that Angul, Jharsuguda, Khurda, Koraput, Bargarh, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Gajapati, Sambalpur and Sundargarh districts were most vulnerable for road mishaps. “In March alone, we witnessed marginal drop in casualty. But the first quarter saw nearly 14 percent rise in accident deaths compared to the corresponding period. It indicates that we are far behind from our target of reducing 10 percent accident deaths almost every year,” state transport commissioner Madhusudan Padhi told media persons.
DGP R P Sharma said police in rural areas have recently been empowered to penalize traffic violators. “We have instructed all SPs to enforce road safety rules and take action against violators,” Sharma said.
Representative image