Making Kerala roads safer

Antony Raju Antony Raju

Road accidents endanger human lives and cause losses to the economy of the country. Most accidents happen because of negligence. Kerala sees around 40,000 road accidents every year, resulting in around 4,400 deaths and 46,000 major injuries.

The Safe Kerala enforcement wing of the Motor Vehicles Department is exclusively engaged in law enforcement, rescue and road-safety activities. There are 85 enforcement squads, one in each taluk. They undertake rescue operations in the event of accidents, and monitor vehicles and road users round the clock, making quick interventions.

We have a novel project called Suraksha Mitr, which is nearing completion. This aims to monitor all transport vehicles with the help of a GPS-based tracking system. At the state level, there is a master control room, and one each in the 14 districts. Every violation can be monitored, and offences booked effectively and transparently. It will help curb violations, avoid frequent checking and will provide ample scope for field officers to focus more on road-safety activities.

We also have Operation Clear Pathways that aims to prevent road accidents due to blocks on roads and footpaths. Then there is Operation Rash, that aims at stopping stunts and speeding on roads. Operation Rescue aims at preventing illegal modifications of vehicles like fitting additional lights, non-standard horns and tinted windows.

With these stringent measures, it is expected that we can control road accidents in Kerala, thus reducing casualties. Let us work unitedly to achieve this goal.

The writer is the transport minister of Kerala.