Delhi LG directs reconstitution of district road safety committees

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has issued directions for the reconstitution of district road safety committees with the mandate to carry out periodic reviews of road accidents in their respective jurisdictions, claims a report PTI. The report also says that the reconstitution has been ordered in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

The District Road Safety Committee will meet at least fortnightly on a virtual platform and meet physically at least once a month at a venue prescribed by the chairman, that is the district magistrate, claims the report. Minutes of the meeting will be made public on the district website within 48 hours of the meeting and also be uploaded on the MoRTH portal.

The committee has the district magistrate as the chairman and members including the deputy commissioner of police, chief district medical officer, executive engineers of road owning agencies, representative of MoRTH, NHAI project director, executive of municipal bodies, at least one civil society organisation working on road safety, and district transport officer.

This committee is also assigned to develop a district road safety plan. Apart from that, it will also ensure forensic investigation for all mass fatality crashes and optimal positioning of ambulances to help improve response time and handover time to hospitals, claims the report. The committee will have to publish road accident data on monthly basis in the public domain on the district website portal and the MoRTH portal.

India is one of the countries with an alarmingly high number of road accidents. A huge number of people die every year due to these road accidents, while a larger number of people become critically injured due to road accidents. The MoRTH and the Delhi government have been emphasising on road safety and ascertaining the reasons behind fatal accidents. One of the steps already implemented to curb road accidents is bus lane drive.