Awareness campaigns taken up as part of Road Safety Awareness Week
OUR CORRESPONDENT
TEZPUR: A meeting of the District Road Safety Committee (DRSC) was held on Thursday at the Rajen Borthakur Memorial Auditorium, Niz Haleswar Yubok Kendra at Haleswar near Tezpur in the Sonitpur district, which has been identified as one of the most accident-prone areas in the district.
Addressing the meeting, Deputy Commissioner Deba Kumar Mishra said that as part of the ongoing Road Safety Awareness Week being observed from January 11, the DRSC meeting was being held at Haleswar with a view to create awareness about road safety among the people of the area. He also said that necessary steps are being taken to prevent road accidents and reduce the number of death cases due to accidents in the district.
The meeting which continued under the chairmanship of District Development Commissioner Utpal Bora, reviewed the action taken by the various line departments concerned as a follow up of the last DRSC meeting held on December 22, 2022.
Additional SP Madhurima Das said strict joint enforcement drives were being carried out regularly all over the district to address violations in this regard. She also said all VDPs under various police stations are being engaged to create awareness about road safety guidelines at the grassroots level.
EE, PWD (Tezpur) division and Member Secretary, DRSC Ajit Medhi appealed to all officials concerned to work in close coordination and work dedicatedly to reduce the numbers of road accidents in the district.
Three joint teams comprising of magistrates, PWD, police and transport officials were formed and they carried out a survey to identify accident-prone zones in the entire Sonitpur district and accordingly instructions were issued to set up road signage, reflectors, rumble strips and speedbreakers as per requirement in these identified locations.
Accordingly, rumble strips and signage at Dolabari, rumble strip to reduce speed at Poruwa Chariali, rumble strip and zebra crossing for pedestrians at Mission Chariali point have already been set up. This was informed by EE, PWD (Nagaon) Jatin Buragohain. He also informed that repair work on the bridge over the Jiabhoroli River has also been completed keeping in mind the safety of commuters. Work on setting up road signage at Halleswar along with rumble strips to reduce the speed of vehicles will be completed in a couple of days and he also informed about other locations where similar works will be taken up.
Noted social workers of Haleswar area, Jiten Bortakur and Debeswar Sarma also spoke in the meeting and highlighted several issues related to road safety in the area and appealed to the DRSC to take appropriate steps to address these issues. Heads of various government departments concerned, transport and police officials along with the local public took part in the meeting.
Moreover, as part of the ongoing Road Safety Awareness Week, an awareness meeting was organized by EE, PWD (Nagaon division) at Mission Chariali point among drivers and owners of public transport vehicles.
Also, an eye check-up camp was organized on Thursday for drivers, conductors and staff along with local people of Napaam area by NHIDCL, PMU-Tezpur as part of the ongoing Road Safety Awareness Week.
The Road Safety Awareness Week is being organized across the district under the aegis of the District Transport Office with several programmes. Deputy Commissioner Deba Kumar Mishra flagged off an awareness rally from the DTO office on Wednesday on the occasion in the presence of DTO Sailen Das and various stakeholders. He also distributed helmets to a few youths to disseminate the message of road safety among them.
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