It was a mela but with a difference though there was much fun but with a message. In order to inculcate the importance of safety amongst the school students, the Safe Club along with the safety department of Tata Steel organised the first Safety Mela at the Keenan Stadium.
Anand Sen, president, TQM & Steel Business, Tata Steel and Jeffery A Forfang, vice-president (safety), Tata Steel inaugurated the mela. Schools displayed stalls on food safety, railway safety, road safety, domestic safety, and disaster management. More than 4,000 students participated and attended the fair from over 40 schools in the city.
The Safe (Safety Awareness for Everyone) Club which has been working on safety issues with schools for many years has thought of promoting safety in a different way. The theme for the fair was 'Smart to be safe'.
"We want to make children understand in their way because no matter if parents keep on telling their wards to wear helmet, they don't listen. We are trying to make the whole safety thing interesting through the one day fair," said Ruchi Narendran, chairperson, Safe Club.
"The rising cases of road accidents are alarming and we have decided to take this pioneering effort to make safety a happening thing within the teenage group so that it is imbibed right from the beginning and safety is a habit," said an official.
JH Tarapore and Tarapore School, Agrico spread the message of 'Dadi ma ke Nuskhe' through leaflets that highlighted about the medicinal importance of Indian herbs and vegetables like ginger, corn, tulsi, lemon and black pepper.
The rail safety kiosk put up by Kerala Samajam Model School, Kerala Public School, Kadma and ADlS Sunshine displayed what not to do to save yourself in platforms and trains. The objective of the campaign is to make students and citizens aware of the significance of road safety and highlighting the importance of safety in schools.
It may be noted that SAFE (Safety for Every One) Club has been working to create awareness on traffic rules to control accidents. It has organised several events like rallies, workshop and seminars on road safety. Various SAFE Clubs are active in schools.