Monday, 22 August 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The Director General Police (DGP) of Uttarakhand, Ashok Kumar has said that five times more people die in road accidents in the State than those murdered in one year. He said that on an average 200 people are murdered in the state every year, whereas about 1000 people die in road accidents.
The DGP was speaking on the topic ‘Road Traffic Accidents in Uttarakhand’ in a Policy Dialogue organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and SDC Foundation here on Monday.
He said that one of the major reasons for road accidents in the state is the increasing traffic pressure on the roads. “At the time of formation of Uttarakhand, the number of vehicles was about four lakh, whereas now it has increased eight times to 32 lakh,’’ he said. The DGP also cited drink and drive, over speed and overloading as major reasons for road accidents.
“Breaking the rules has become the culture of some people. Such people enjoy breaking the rules on the roads and are often the cause of accidents,’’ he added.
The DGP appealed to the people of Uttarakhand and the tourists visiting here to strictly adhere to the rules and regulations while driving. He also said that the police are very serious about the cases of road accidents and are making all efforts including training to reduce them.
Senior journalist Gaurav Talwar said that if we analyze the statistics of road accidents in the state, it is found that the nature of road accidents is different in the plain and hilly parts of the state.
“In plain areas, where two-wheeler accidents are more frequent, larger vehicles are more prone to accidents in mountainous areas. There is a need to make different strategies from the hilly and plain areas to prevent road accidents,’’ he said.
Assistant Professor Trauma centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh, Dr Madhur Uniyal said that most of the working people are getting killed in road accidents in Uttarakhand.
“If we analyze the statistics of deaths and injuries of working age people in accidents, Uttarakhand has the highest disability-adjusted life years across the entire country,’’ he said.
Dr Uniyal said that apart from over speeding and drunk driving there are many other reasons for accidents. Specifically mentioning road engineering, he said that the construction of roads is also a big reason to prevent road accidents. “Zero fatality corridors are being built in many parts of the country. There is a need to build such corridors in Uttarakhand,’’ he added.
He said that most of the accidents are due to the negligence of the youth. In such a situation, it is the responsibility of the parents to show a lot of understanding while giving vehicles to their children. He asked the parents to come to the trauma centres of the hospital to see how many teenagers are suffering in accidents and how much pain their families are suffering due to this.
The Policy Dialogue was co-chaired by Hemant Kochhar, PHD Chamber of Commerce, Uttarakhand Chapter and moderated by Anoop Nautiyal of SDC Foundation.
The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Traffic Mukhtar Mohsin, SP Traffic Dehradun Akshay Konde, Rashmi Chopra, Venu Dhingra, Sanjay Bhargava, Ashish Garg, Ganesh Kandwal, SS Rasayali, Paramjit Singh Kakkar, Vishal Kala, TN Jowhar and others attended the dialogue.
