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Concern For Accident Rise

Bhubaneswar: Commerce & Transport Minister Padmanabh Behera on Monday said that road accidents are a serious cause of concern for all.

“In the last decade more than 45000 people have lost their lives due to road accidents in the state. The government is committed to reduce the fatalities,” he said inaugurating a State Level Crash Investigation Training programme here with an objective to offer a scientific understanding of the accident investigation processes and its relevance.

The programme is first of its kind state level programme in Odisha where officers of Police & Transport department will be trained how to provide authentic data of an accident which in turn facilitate the designing of policy-level interventions for the reduction of road traffic accidents.

Talking about the training programme he said that this training programme will certainly enhance the skills of police & transport department officers for investigating a road crash with a holistic approach covering all possible causes.

Principal Secretary Commerce & Transport, Bishnupada Sethi said, “In our State annually more than 5,000 people are killed in accidents. The behaviour of road drivers has to change. Road safety is a high priority area for our Government and we are taking a lot of initiatives for the reduction of road accidents in the state.”

Emphasising the importance of the licensing system, DGP Sunil Kumar Bansal laid emphasis on making the process of obtaining a driving license further stringent and robust.

He said the trained and skilled investigators can provide important insights to both Enforcement and Road Owning Agencies in improving road safety scenarios in the state.

“Like a surgeon needs to be trained about the surgery process, similarly officers need to be trained how to conduct investigations in a scientific manner. A proper crash investigation will help not only in finding the culprit but also in preventing further accidents,” he added.

Transport Commissioner, Arun Bothra said that the program was planned as it is very important to analyze road safety data to understand why crashes occur, which factors influence risks, and what determines crash severity, and based on this understanding, to arrive at reliable conclusions on how to prevent them most effectively and efficiently.

Twin City Police Commissioner Saumendra Kumar Priyadarshi said, “We cannot reduce accidents in the state through enforcement only. We all understand that more work and efforts are needed in the field of road safety. We have to have a synergy in the mission of saving lives.”

The capacity building programme is being organised by the State Transport Authority in association with Odisha Police. Muskan for Road Safety NGO is the knowledge partner for training. The organisation has been working pan India for twenty-one years for Capacity Building of Stakeholders, Road Safety Awareness, Advocacy, and Community Liaison.

On this occasion, the upgraded website of State Transport Authority, Odisha was inaugurated by the Minister. The revamped website is one stop solution for transport related queries. It is user friendly, easy to navigate and informative.

Some of the best performers in Road Safety in Odisha were felicitated on this occasion.

The training will be conducted at all the police range headquarters across Odisha and Police Commisionarate, Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. In the first phase, the training will be conducted at Berhampur, Rourkela and Police Commissionerate, Bhubaneswar.

A total of 70 participants– 50 from the police department and 20 from the Transport Department will participate in the program at each place.