A total of 100 hoardings will be put alongside various National and State highways in the State starting from Wednesday to create awareness regarding road safety and emergency service in case of an accident, said State operations head of 108 Express Suresh Camil.
The 108 staff recently lost a team member in a road accident which drove them to take this step. The decision has come in the on-going Road Safety Week being observed by the Traffic Department.
As part of their corporate social responsibility, HDFC Bank has joined hands with emergency service 108 Sanjeevani Express to sponsor hoardings that will bear awareness message promoting road safety. “Initially, 100 hoarding will be put alongside highways in the state which will be inked with messages favouring use of seat belts, helmets and against drunken driving,” said Camil. The hoarding will be put on routes from Raipur to Dhamtari, Kanker, Mahasamund, Bilaspur, Ambikapur etc. “The 108 team is doing a commendable job by helping people in time and saving lives. We wanted to contribute in some way, promote and encourage their efforts,” said HDFC Cluster Head Surjeet Shrinivasan.
Talking about the alarming 96 percent in rise in road accidents in the state during the New Year, Camil said it is important to tell commuters that drunken driving is a huge risk and should not be practised. “Also, at times of a road accident, it is important to show presence of mind and quickly call for help. However, accident victims do not realise this and thus it is important to remind them of 108,” he said.
When asked, Camil said that a proposal will be sent to the Health Department to add 12 more vehicles to the existing force of 240 108 vehicles in the state. One Sanjeevani Express covers an area of around 400 sq/km. The installation of hoardings alongside various national and state highways will begin from Wednesday.