Highlighting different infrastructure projects, particularly those under Smart Cities Mission, being implemented in Madurai, Minister for Cooperation ‘Sellur’ K. Raju said these projects would transform Madurai into a city of modernity with ancient roots.
Speaking at the final day of Road Safety Week here on Sunday, he said the government would make all efforts to complete these projects within the targeted time.
Pointing out that two-wheeler riders were the victims in a majority of the fatal road accidents, he said that the State government was taking a number of initiatives to bring down fatality in road accidents. Owing to these efforts, he said that a while the number of road accidents came down by 3% from 2017 to 2018, number of deaths came down by 25 % in the same period.
To encourage the efforts to bring down the accidents, the State government had announced awards for three best performing districts and a police Commissionerate that showed maximum reduction in accidents. He appealed to the public to avoid use of mobile phones while riding.
Around 60 drivers of government vehicles, majority of them associated with Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, were rewarded for safe and accident-free driving. Collector S. Natarajan and other officials took part in the function.