Zero fatality district programme to be run in districts to prevent road accidents

Transport Department Issues Instructions to All Commissioners, District Collectors

Bhopal( Team Newsbuddy):The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, has identified 100 districts in the country where a high number of fatal road accidents are occurring, based on a survey conducted by “Save Life Foundation”. Out of these identified 100 districts, 6 districts are from Madhya Pradesh. These districts are Dhar, Sagar, Satna, Rewa, Jabalpur and Khargone. According to the 2023 assessment, the highest number of fatal road accidents occurred in Dhar district.

In view of the severity of these road accidents, the Central Government has requested all district administrations under the “Zero Fatality District Programme” to identify the causes of these accidents and prepare an action plan. Thereafter, necessary actions should be taken to prevent these road accidents.

Low-Cost Local Interventions Identified

A strategy has been developed by the “Center of Excellence for Road Safety” at IIT Madras, under which low-cost, highly localised interventions have been identified for each site and road corridor where accidents are occurring frequently. District administrations will be provided support for these interventions. In this regard, the Transport Department of the State Government has issued detailed instructions to all Commissioners and District Collectors. The Chief Secretary is also continuously reviewing this work.

Nodal Officers to Be Appointed and Accident-Prone Sites Identified

Under the action plan, all District Collectors have been directed to appoint a nodal officer at the level of ADM or SDM. This nodal officer will hold meetings with officials of road agencies in the district and gather information on potential accident-prone sites and road corridors. Such sites or road corridors where accidents are occurring repeatedly can be identified through the NIC e-DAR portal.

Additionally, for places with potential for fatal accidents and where minor accidents are occurring regularly, Collectors have been instructed to gather such information through local police, local bodies, general public, etc.

Personal Site Inspections and Technical Solutions

District officials of all concerned road agencies will personally inspect the identified accident sites and road corridors, and evaluate and document the technical and engineering causes of the accidents. After site inspections, the technical causes due to which accidents are occurring will be studied and low-cost and highly localized solutions will be devised by engineers of the concerned road agencies.

These findings will be presented in the District Road Safety Committee meeting through the District Collector, Nodal Officer, and road agency engineers. For the expenses of these low-cost measures, the Public Works Department has been instructed to ensure adequate budget provisions in each district. Efforts will also be made to procure funds for these expenditures from the District Mineral Foundation Fund.