Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 16
Punjab witnessed a significant decline of 15 per cent in road accident fatalities and 18 per cent reduction in road accidents in 2020 as compared to the previous year, DGP Punjab Dinkar Gupta said here today.
As per data, a total of 5,194 accidents were registered in 2020 while 3,866 people lost their lives in road accidents in the same year.
DGP Gupta said during the ongoing Road Safety Month (January 18 to February 17, 2021), the Punjab Police organised 521 road safety camps and 542 road safety seminars besides holding 152 awareness rallies across the state, and sensitised around 1.33 lakh students from schools and colleges and 1.28 lakh citizens about road safety
and traffic rules.
He said considering road safety as a major concern, the police were leaving no stone unturned to make the roads safer for commuters.
DGP Gupta said a pilot project ‘Accident Resolution Team- ART’ was initiated in Patiala district under which teams led by the Station House Officer (SHO) visited and inspected the black spots in their respective jurisdictions. The Patiala police formulated 25 such ARTs and as many as 20 rectifications have already been realised, mostly on the Patiala-Sirhind road, resulting in a remarkable decline in
the accident rate.
A standard operating procedure to prevent deaths due to stray animals had been formulated by the police and cattle accident black spots were also being identified, said the DGP, adding that 25 such black spots, mostly in the Malwa belt, had been earmarked and reflective tapes were being tied around the necks of stray cattle to avert accidents.
Road fatalities drop by 15% in 2020
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