Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Sept 29: With the increase in road traffic accidents in various parts of the Union Territory of J&K which consume precious human lives, the authorities have directed the concerned authorities to identify the accident-prone areas in their respective districts.
In this regard, the authorities in the Ganderbal district have already formed a district-level committee that has been tasked to identify such spots in the district and come up with a comprehensive report forthwith.
Officials told Excelsior that a four-member committee has been constituted in this regard under the supervision of Additional District Development Commissioner, Ganderbal.
“The committee will carry out the identification process of accident prone areas and traffic congestion areas on the major roads of the District Ganderbal which will further help in coming up with a plan to plug the loopholes,” the official said.
Earlier, the concerned authorities, across J&K have already been directed by the top officials in the UT administration to take the necessary steps aimed at saving the precious lives that get consumed in the road traffic accidents, especially the hilly areas while more focus has been laid to go with the technology-driven measures to prevent such accidents from happening.
The authorities have also been directed to ensure the installation of crash barriers, sign boards, signages, and parapets besides putting in use the breath analyzers apart from getting the first responder kits for traffic police vehicles, the measures, officials said, could prove a game changer is preventing, or at least minimizing the occurrence of road traffic accidents.
The formation of the committees in the districts, especially in Ganderbal, which has sought the recommendations, is going to be the first step towards putting in place the necessary measures for the prevention of road traffic accidents which are consuming scores of lives annually.
Officials in Ganderbal said that the Deputy Commissioner has accorded the sanction to the district level committee in the same light and has got the members from different departments to suggest remedies to address various issues and provide a comprehensive document.
The committee comprises Shahid Bashir Bhat Assistant Engineer, PMGSY Ganderbal, Tajamul Hussain, Assistant Engineer, PW R&B Ganderbal, Yasir Ahmad Sofi, Junior Engineer, REW Ganderbal, and Ishtiyaq Ahmad SG CT, Traffic Department, Ganderbal.
As per the terms of reference, the committee will identify all accident-prone areas in the district including all areas of major roads where traffic congestion takes place, apart from any other suggestions that the committee will deem fit. “The committee is on the job and has been directed to submit its report within a week to the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal,” the officials said.
It is to be noted here that after back-to-back fatal traffic accidents in Jammu’s Rajouri and Poonch district which took the lives of nearly 20 people, there was a growing demand from people for the conduct of road safety audits and identifying the accident-prone areas and the taking of necessary measures.
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