Over one lakh 42 thousand people were killed and more than five lakh injured in road accidents in the country last year. Giving this information in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister of State for Road transport Dr Tushar A Chowdary said that the states have been advised to set up road safety councils and district road safety committees and creation of road safety funds to prevent accidents and to ensure road safety norms.

To reduce morbidity and mortality due to road accidents, the World Health Organisation sponsored Road Safety has started giving positive results in Jalandhar City of Punjab. Jalandhar is among the two cities in the country where this project is presently running as a pliot project for the last two years. The other city is Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

Jalandhar Police says that there is tremendous decrease in the deaths due to accidents. AIR Correspondent reports there were 290 deaths in 258 fatal accidents in the year 2009. With the implementation of the project the number of deaths has decreased to 80 in 2011.

Besides saving human lives, the project has also generated huge revenue of over 2 crore 56 lakh rupees for the city police by fining more than 2 lakh 22 thousand traffic rule offenders. 

This project has been initiated by United Nations in collaboration with several international agencies and is being implemented in 10 different countries including India.

Data reveales that in the year 2009, there were 290 deaths in 258 fatal accidents and about the same numbers of people were injured in more than 150 non-fatal accidents in the city. That means on an average basis 24 human beings were killed in road accidents every month. Whereas, after the implementation of the project in 2010, the number of deaths has come down to 185 and further decreased to 80 in 2011 and about 45 till date in this year. Besides saving human lives, the project has also generated huge revenue of more than rupees 2 crore 56 lakh for the city police by challaning more than 2 lakh 22 thousand traffic offenders. State Nodal Officer of the Project, Dr Ashok Nayyar said that the project is moving in the right direction

he government has sought adequate funding from various sources to boost infrastructure for road sector (35 lakh oads)in the country. Addressing a meeting of financial institutions and consulting engineering firms in New Delhi today, Road Transport and Highways minister CP Joshi urged lenders and financial institutions to enhance funding to the ministry to achieve its targets in the sector. 

The minister expressed concern that the performance of the sector during the first quarter of the current fiscal has not been quite upto the mark. He said projects bid out in the quarter have not received good response from bidders as against last year. Mr Joshi attributed the reason for this to tightening of finances by the lenders. The minister said huge resources are required to achieve the targets.

Union Minister for Roads, Transport and Highways, Dr. C.P. Joshi said that his ministry has launched various projects worth 10,000 crore rupees in the state of Haryana. Earlier, Mr joshi and Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda inaugurated and laid foundation stones of various projects worth 1,337.76 crore rupees at Jind before addressing the Vikas rally.

In view of growing number of cases related to vehicle theft, the Delhi Transport department has made high security registration number plates, HSRP, mandatory from today. As per the new order, all newly registered vehicles will have to get the HSRP in the first phase.  Subsequently, the old or existing vehicles will be covered from the 15th of next month. Now, new vehicle owners will have to go to the local RTO to get the registration number. The Motor Licensing Officer, MLO, will issue an authorisation slip to the owner who will then approach an HSRP centre to get a secure number plate. In total, Delhi will have 14 HSRP centres with one at each RTO. The temper-free number plates on vehicles with high security features will help check cases of vehicle thefts. A High Security Registration Number Plate, HSRP, will be made of one millimetre thick aluminium plate with a retro-reflective sheet. It will have features like chromium based laser hologram, a non-reusable snap lock, a unique laser code of minimum seven digits and embossed registration number to prevent counterfeiting and duplication. According to the transport department, the rates fixed for HSRP are lowest in the whole country. Each HSRP for two-wheelers will cost 69 rupees while for a car the cost will be 214 rupees per plate. For three-wheelers, the cost will be 86 rupees.

Country’s first Radio frequency identification, RIFD, Technology Based Electronic Toll Plaza will be inaugurated tomorrow at Chandimandir, Punchkula, Haryana. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Dr. CP Joshi will inaugurate the plaza.

This technology will help users to Toll Statemmake payment without stopping at toll plazas and will reduce traffic congestion and commuting time. ents can be made available on line to the road users and they need not stop for receipt.