Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCRS) has initiated a detailed study to assess the implementation status of the road safety directions issued to the States.
In this regard, a team of consultants engaged by the Committee visited Odisha for 15 days in the month of June. The team assessed the extent and quality of actions taken by the State Government.
As per the compliance report shared with the Transport Department, Odisha has scored 66.0 per cent and is categorised as ‘High Performers’ in implementation of the various road safety directions. They have specially praised a few initiatives of the department including Project Rakshak, Vahak and National Road Safety Short Film Festival, officials said.
The team has also praised helmet compliance in the city of Bhubaneswar. The agency also praised the smart queue system implemented at RTO, Bhubaneswar. The report states that the smart queue system is working perfectly fine with the help of complementing infrastructure.
As per the report, it has been observed that while the State is in the higher performer category, still there is a lot of improvements required to be done. On-ground effectiveness also needs special focus in enforcing the rules and laws adherence, equipment and infrastructure availability and functioning.
In the institutional category which includes functioning of Lead Agency and utilisation of Road Safety fund, the agency has given 19 per cent score out of 25 per cent.
Similarly, 15.7 per cent out 25 per cent has been obtained for enforcement and 14.4 per cent out of 25 per cent score is given for engineering. Out of 15 per cent, 10.5 per cent in emergency care and out of 10 per cent, 6.3 per cent in education score is given by the committee.
During the field visit, the road safety team has observed various activities adopted by Odisha that can be considered as best practices and can be recommended to other states as well.
The panel praised the initiatives like Project Rakshak, Project Vahak, Helmet compliance & driver behaviour in Bhubaneswar, National Road Safety Short Film Festival, Driver Training Institute, Chhatia, Smart Queue System at RTO, Bhubaneswar and the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) project.
It is pertinent to mention that as per Supreme Court Committee guidelines, the Transport Department is working towards construction of Truck Terminals and comprehensive Trauma System Care Plan. Road Safety training is being provided to engineers, commercial drivers, traffic police personnel, highway engineers and planners in road safety in a systematic process through a well-planned training calendar.
Soon the command-and-control centre for CCTV/ANPR will be functional and the footage will be monitored continuously for issuing E challans to the traffic violators. The frequency of enforcement drive has been increased and a consistent effort in this regard will help in reducing road accidents in the state.