Punjab: Measures to check road accidents await jump-start

CHANDIGARH: Every day for the last eight years, an average of 13 lives are being cut short in road accidents in Punjab, but the state government is yet to put its planned corrective measures into motion.
One of the main reasons for the non-implementation is the delay in release of funds by the cash-strapped government.

Following the Supreme Court guidelines, the state government had set up a road safety fund of Rs 100 crore in 2017 in which 50% of the compounding fee collected by the enforcement wings was to be diverted. In the subsequent year, the government allocated Rs 20 crore as road safety funds, but failed to released the amount.
Punjab is home to 2.25% of the country’s population, and its share in total road accident deaths has remained between 3.3% and 3.5% in the last five years. From 2011 to 2018, as many as 37,812 people lost their lives in road accidents with the highest number of 5,077 recorded in 2016, followed by 4,740 in 2018 and 4,278 in 2017.
In the wake of increasing fatal accidents, the state government under its flagship scheme Tandrust Punjab prepared an action plan in consultation with the traffic police. The plan includes modernization of traffic police by providing them latest equipment for challaning, body cameras, speed radars and breath analysers. There is also a plan to take corrective steps for rectifying accident-prone areas across the state. Of the total dark spots, about 40% are on the roads under the state government’s jurisdiction, while the remaining are that of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). A detailed plan has been worked out for removing the dark spots. However, there has been no development for the want of funds.
There is also a plan to bifurcate traffic police into two wings — traffic management and traffic enforcement — to increase the presence of traffic personnel on road for longer periods and for effective management and enforcement of rules.
Transport principal secretary K Siva Prasad said a three-member committee has been formed to finalize the purchase of required equipment. “Money is not an issue, we are just waiting for the purchase proposal to get finalized. Funds will be released soon after,” said Prasad.