Of the 1.5 lakh people who lose their lives yearly in road accidents in the country, the state of Odisha alone accounts for 5300 deaths. The statistics show that in every 100 accidents, the rate of death is 33 in the country, and compared to this national average, the figure in Odisha stands at 48. This has become a major concern for the state, and in recent times, many steps have been taken to lower this figure.
Under the leadership of Transport Commissioner Arun Bothra, a 1996-batch IPS officer, several interventions are being made to improve road safety in the state. Commendably, all these interventions are already showing results, and in the last month, no deaths were reported in the state capital, Bhuvneshwar.
Indian Masterminds spoke with the state Joint Commissioner, Road Safety, Sanjay Biswal, who shared details about all ongoing campaigns and projects in the state under the transport department.
THE FOUR E’S
When it comes to road safety, the transport department of Odisha is mainly focusing on four areas: Education, Emergency Care, Enforcement and Engineering (concerning the road). The department is taking help of the police, health and other departments to work on all these four Es.
PROJECT RAKSHAK
After any accident, the ambulances need 18-23 minutes to reach the spot after getting the message. These 18-23 minutes is the golden period in which the victim can be saved, but only if they receive timely first aid. For this, the transport department has launched Project Rakshak, under which 30,000 first responders are being trained. Phase 1 and 2 of this project have already been completed and around 9800 first responders have been trained, including 380 master trainers.
Talking about the project, Mr. Biswal said, “We have identified the first responders in all the 30 districts of the state. They are mostly the roadside shopkeepers, permanent residents, etc., who are the first to see the accidents. It would have been difficult to train each one of them, so around 380 master trainers from Red Cross and Civil Defence have been identified and are being trained with the help of a German-based company, GIZ – German International Development Cooperation, and IIT Delhi.”
Along with taking care of the victims of road accidents, the first responders have also been trained for the Good Samaritan policy and Supreme Court orders on helping the victims in the golden hour. A Rakshak Portal has also been created and all the contact details of the master trainers have been uploaded on it. The database has also been circulated to the police stations, RTO and Fire Services people, so that then can inform the first responders before reaching the spot.
PROJECT WAHAK
The department is also focusing on the training of Heavy Motor Vehicles drives. Anyone with a one-year driving license for light motor vehicle can obtain the renewed license of HMV by taking admission in any driving training institute. Under Project Vahak, this training has been made more focused, as the drivers have to enroll themselves in 3-days residential training in Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving Training Institute, Chhatia, Jajapur district.
Till now, 2000 drivers from different sectors including mining and industrial area have been trained. The target is to train 1 lakh such drivers in one year and with the start of three more such institutes, the department is positive about completing the target by September.
The training includes defensive driving practices and avoiding any sort of narcotics and fuel economy. Fuel economy basically deals with techniques like when to change the gear or use the clutch to save fuel.
CRASH INVESTIGATION TRAINING
Mr. Biswal further said that most of the Investigating Officers write that the reason of accidents is rash driving or negligence on the part of the driver. However, the accident can also happen due to various reasons like the engineering of the road, climate, or some defect in the vehicle. These can only be known if the person sent to examine the spot is technically sound and trained for analyzing all the causes.
With the help of JP Research India and IIT Delhi, two days training of police and transport persons are being conducted all over the state. The training has already been concluded in three places, Bhuvneshwar, Brahmapur and Sambalpur.
Besides all these steps, road safety as a subject has also been included in the syllabus of Class 3 to 10 in the state board. The transport department believes that if the children are aware about the all the rules from the start, not only will they become more aware, but can also advise their parents on this subject.
(This is the first part of the story. The second part will deal with initiatives focused on other Es, including Emergency Care, Enforcement and Engineering.)
