Bhubaneswar: Odisha will observe ‘Zero Fatality Week’ from April 1 to April 7 as part of an intensified awareness campaign and enforcement drive to prevent road accidents and casualties.
The Commerce & Transport Department has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to all the stakeholder Departments, Collectors, and SPs /DCPs for smooth observance of the drive.
In 2022, Odisha witnessed as many as 11,663 road accidents with around 5,467 fatalities. There is an increase in fatalities by 7.60 per cent in fatalities as compared with 2021, an official source said.
Many lives could have been saved if these accident victims could have reached the nearest healthcare facility in the Golden Hour.
Calling road accidents a big challenge for the State, Commerce & Transport Department Principal Secretary Usha Padhee said that road safety is a high-priority area for the Government which is taking a lot of initiatives for the reduction of road accidents in the state.
The government, she said, has adopted a fourfold strategy- Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Emergency care to ensure zero death during the week.
The Department has specified the responsibilities in SOP for all the stakeholder departments and urged them to take all possible measures to achieve zero casualty during the week.
The Health and Family Welfare department has been requested to sensitize the groups about zero fatality week who would support with Blood arrangements to accident victims regularly.
The Trauma Care Centres have been instructed to remain prepared for round-the-clock service. While the H&FW Department and NHAI will ensure the deployment of ambulances in accident-prone areas and highways, Works Department and road-owning agencies have been requested to install adequate signages, repair potholes and roads where required.
They have also been requested to ensure proper traffic calming measures, 500 meters before the junction points where rural/urban approach roads meet the highways.
The enforcement wing of RTOs along with Police personnel will conduct stringent enforcement throughout the week, said the source.
The NGOs and first responder groups (Rakshak) have been requested to stay alert and help in the zero-fatality mission.
UNI