Bhubaneswar: As part of its aggressive action to minimize road mishap and fatalities, the Government on Saturday reconstituted the District Road Safety Committee (DRSC) by involving more stakeholders and expanding its role and responsibilities.
Bishnupada Sethi, Principal Secretary Commerce & Transport has issued the notification this Saturday.
As per a notification issued by Principal Secretary Commerce & Transport, the District Collector will continue to remain as Chairman of the Committee, highway administrator of State Highways and Major District Roads (MDRs) will be the Member Secretary of the panel.
Deputy Commissioner of Police or SP, PWD Executive Engineer, Representative of Regional Office, MoRT&H, NHAI Project Director, Executive Officer of ULB, RTO and DEO are the other members of the DRSC.
The Government has also included one Civil Society Organization (CSO) or any NGO working on improving road safety in the State as a member of the panel.
Further, the Chairman will nominate a member from Bus Owners Association & another from Truck Owners Association of the District and two accredited journalists in the Committee.
The District Road Safety Committee will hold its meeting at least fortnightly on a virtual platform and meet physically at least once a month at a venue prescribed by the Chairman.
The minutes of the meeting shall be made public on the district website within 48 hours of the meeting and also be uploaded to the web portal of MoRTH.
The DRSC will conduct periodic review of the road accidents in the district, monitor implementation of State Road Safety Policy and the targets set under and implementation of directions of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, Government of India and the State Government as may be issued from time to time on matters of road safety.
It would also ensure proper implementation of decisions of the State Road Safety Council in the district.
The Committee will also regularly track and update State Road Safety Council on details of Road crashes that took place in the district, which shall include details of the vehicle, cause of crash details of spot investigation, evidence if any, details of offender/ s (if any), details of Victim/s and victims latest condition, types of injury caused and FIR registered, if any.
The panel will also publish the monthly road accident data on the district website.
It will also develop a District Road Safety Plan, ensure forensic crash investigation u/s 135A of the MV Act for all mass fatality crashes in the district, optimal placements of ambulances to help improve response time and handover time to hospitals and adequate availability of different ambulance types as per historic caseload in the district.
The Committee would also prepare an Emergency Medical Plan for mass fatality accidents in the district; ensure linkage between hospitals and ambulances through setting up a prior notification system.
It will also act as the nodal body for placing, requirement, and disbursal of road safety funds and interact with State Road Safety Council as and when required.
It will provide regular inputs to the State Road Safety Council/Lead Agency of State and recommend road safety measures especially with regard to identification of major accident-prone areas/ Black spots etc. and also in parts regarding the important of 4Es viz Engineering, Education, Enforcement & Emergency would also be done by the DRSC.
Further it will promote Good Samaritans to assist the road accident victims and provide suggestion/ s to the State Government as and when requested to formulate or amend, are the other functions of the panel.