IRC session concludes in Odisha capital, stresses curb in road mishaps
Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 23:
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) would take steps to curb road accidents on National Highways and State Highways in all states including Odisha.
This was decided at the 205th council meeting of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) whose 75th annual session (platinum jubilee) concluded at the Janta Maidan in the capital city on Thursday.
According to the IRC, the area on the National and State Highways, where the road accident is reported for more than ten times by the police, is declared as ‘black spot’.
As proposed by the IRC to the Centre, since accidents in these places occur frequently due to delay in the change of map and design of the roads, the engineers, in charge of National Highways, State Highways, PWD and other roads, should conduct a proper survey to curb the rate of accidents.
The IRC has proposed the Centre to frame a rule in which the engineers would be asked to conduct a survey of these roads in every fortnight and submit their reports to the Centre and the state governments.
Speaking at the meeting, principal secretary, state Works department, Nalinikanta Pradhan informed that three places on the National Highways were identified as black spots during a survey in 2011.
Apart from this, the state government has also identified more black spots and has taken adequate steps in this regard, he said.
“The state government has assigned the survey of these accident-prone places to a private company and taken adequate measures on the basis of its reports,” he added.
The meeting also informed that as per the proposals submitted by the IRC to the Centre, there should be a specific timeline for implementation and completion of National Highway projects in the states for which the Centre and the state governments should give permissions and clearance to the NH authorities to carry out and complete the construction work.
Apart from this, the IRC has also proposed the Centre to allow the plying of vehicles on NHs with a maximum load of 10 tonnes. Action should be taken against the vehicles who violate the order.
The state Transport departments should be asked to conduct regular checking of vehicles for this purpose, it said. Besides, the Transport departments should also conduct survey on the design of the roads in the city areas to ensure smooth traffic, it added.
Among others, IRC president Mahesh Kumar, former president Sunil Bhowmik, general secretary SS Mahar, director general, (Road Development) and special secretary, ministry of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, SN Das, and chief engineers of NH and SH of all the states were present at the meeting.
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