Samaritans to save Himachal accident victims

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Transport MinisterBikram Singh emphasized on being Good Samaritans. He said that Good Samaritan is a person who without expectation voluntarily comes forward to administer immediate assistance or emergency care to a person injured in an accident within Golden Hour.

The Himachal Road Safety Fund and Activities Rules, 2022 has been notified under which implementation and strengthening of road safety measures and activities are being ensured. Rs 18.38 crore has been released for road safety. A road safety action plan of Rs 28.52 crore has been proposed for the year 2022-23.

He said in view to the seriousness of road safety, a Road Safety Cell has been established under the Transport Department, in which officers of Public Works, Transport, Police, Health and Education departments have been included.

Accident prone black spots are being removed through NHAI and Public Works Department. An amount of Rs 75 lakh has been released to the police department for liquor sensor and speed check radar. The speed limit of vehicles has been re-fixed.

He said to make school students aware of road safety, a course on road safety has been prepared in collaboration with HP State Council of Educational Research and Training Solan, which would commence from class VI to X in the coming academic session. Under the road safety awareness campaign by the department, an amount of Rs.3 crore has been released to the education department for establishment of road safety clubs in higher secondary schools and colleges.

The Transport Minister said that in the last four and a half years, the Transport Department has earned revenue of Rs 1985.93 crore under various heads. The revenue target for the financial year 2022-23 is Rs 512.10 crore and in the first quarter the department has earned a revenue of Rs 182.78 crore which is Rs 85.70 crore more than the corresponding period last year. He said the department has collected a fine of Rs. 22.28 crore through 129570 challan against the violators of motor vehicle rules.

Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu said the need of the hour was to make provision of pedestrian paths on the roads as well as an integrated transport management system and traffic police stations. Innovative experiments like Traffic Volunteer in Shimla should be taken to all the districts.

Principal Secretary Transport Onkar Chand Sharma said that road safety is a sensitive subject and the Transport Department is trying to strengthen it in coordination with other departments. He urged all the concerned departments to extend their cooperation in ensuring road safety through coordination and review meetings.