Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police Wednesday praised an editorial published in the September 11 edition of prominent Odia daily Dharitri. Its Editor, Tathagatha Satpathy, advocated tougher enforcement of new traffic rules in order to stop high accident rate in the state. He also stressed the need for proper and stricter inspection of vehicles.
Documents would expose the criminals who have always been found using stolen vehicles to commit robbery in the twin city area.
One week of the enforcement of the new traffic rules has brought changes that even decades-long observance of traffic awareness weeks across the country failed to achieve, Satpathy observed.
He also said in the editorial that due to the new rules people are working diligently to arrange all the necessary documents of the vehicles. The sale of alcohol has also drastically reduced in the twin city after police started strictly checking drunk driving which is one of the major reasons behind fatal road mishaps.
Satpathy argued in his editorial that wrong route driving and drunk driving are considered serious crimes in foreign countries. The violators should be dealt with strictly as they do not give a hoot to the soft approach usually shown by authorities in Odisha.
He severely criticised the persons clashed with police over the collection of hefty fines for traffic rule violations at Rajmahal Square September 7.
He asserted that the people who did not have the documents with them and were driving without helmets were mainly behind the violence.
The editorial revealed that more than 1.50 lakh commuters died in road mishaps in the country with an average of 17 persons per hour.