HYDERABAD: Chief Secretary T.K. Dewan has suggested setting up an exclusive cell in the Road Transport Authority (RTA) Department for monitoring and assessing various aspects relating to road safety.

Drastic changes in the Motor Vehicle Tax were also being proposed to bring it in tune with the increasing vehicular traffic and population, he said at a workshop on `Road Safety Interventions' held by the Hyderabad district administration and Transport Department on Tuesday.

Mr. Dewan felt that at least 50 per cent of the Rs. 40 crores collected by RTA and Rs. 25 crores by the traffic police towards user charges should be spent on providing safety mechanisms on the roads. Collectors were advised to activate road safety bodies and monitor them once a month, a press release said.

Accident rate high

The Chief Secretary said the Chief Minister was very much concerned over the high incidence of road accidents and was keen to formulate an action plan to bring them down. About 137 recommendations were already received on this count.

He also asked the MV Inspectors to conduct regular inspections of the 120 training institutions in the city.

The Principle Secretary, Transport Department, Tishya Chatterjee said five vulnerable national highways prone to high road mishaps were identified and a short term action plan will be implemented in the next three months to bring down the accident rate.

Intensive police patrolling and checking by MV Inspectors will be taken up by at these points.

Study taken up

Similar stretches will be identified in the twin cities and action will be taken to reduce the accident rate by at least 20 per cent every year, he said.

Hyderabad Collector R.V. Chandravadan said four groups have been formed to study aspects like enforcement, engineering, education & awareness and institutional mechanism for road safety. Police Commissioner A.K. Mohanty observed that strict implementation of the law will ensure total safety of human lives.

Transport Commissioner Ajay Mishra, Additional Commissioner, Police (Traffic) A.K. Khan, Jt. Transport Commissioner Venkateswarlu, MCH Additional Commissioner (Traffic & Transportation) N.V.S. Reddy, RTC Regional Manager C. Panduranga Murthy, MP Asaduddin Owaisi and others were present.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail