Bhubaneswar: In line with the Odisha Government’s ‘Come Home Safe’ vision, the Commerce and Transport Department is set to launch the Zero Accident Day (ZAD) campaign in Keonjhar district in collaboration with RBG Labs, IIT Madras.

The campaign will run as a 14-day behavioural nudge-based movement, combining education, awareness, enforcement, and community participation to reduce road accidents.

ZAD was earlier piloted in Bhubaneswar, where it brought about a visible reduction in road mishaps and generated widespread awareness on road safety practices. Intensive IEC drives, data-driven enforcement, and community participation led to measurable improvements, with schools, colleges, and citizen groups actively engaged in the process.

The roadmap for Keonjhar’s ZAD initiative was finalised at a strategy meeting chaired by Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur. During the meeting, IIT Madras presented detailed data insights on crash severity, accident peak hours, violation trends, and vehicle classifications based on eDAR data.

The meeting was attended by District Magistrate and Collector Vishal Singh, the Superintendent of Police, the Additional District Magistrate, and senior officials of the Commerce and Transport Department.

The campaign will adopt a multi-pronged approach to achieve long-term behavioural change:

  • Awareness drives through traditional and digital media, school and college workshops, and social media outreach with IIT Madras support.
  • Community engagement via volunteers, students, and local leaders acting as Road Safety Ambassadors through plays, street campaigns, and public interactions.
  • Data-driven enforcement targeting violations such as speeding, helmetless riding, overloading, and drunk driving, with an emphasis on counselling over punitive action.

Technical support from IIT Madras for blackspot mapping and identification of emerging accident-prone zones to guide both enforcement and engineering interventions.

With this initiative, the state aims to make Zero Accident Day a model for replicating safe road practices across Odisha.