The Government has identified at least 137 black spots across Jharkhand during its efforts to curb road accidents, State Transport Minister C P Singh said on Wednesday, urging the people of Jharkhand to take all necessary measures for putting a check on road mishaps.
“One of the main objectives of our Government is to curb road accidents. They have reduced in the recent years, but we want to make Jharkhand a State, where zero road accidents are reported,” said Singh.
Black spots are areas that are most prone to road accidents. These areas usually witness abnormally high incidents of road accidents over a long period of time. Several reasons, including sharp turns and traffic patterns, may contribute to the trend, said an official from the Road Transport Department.
Pointing out at the blatant violation of traffic norms in the cities here, Singh said said that he has seen several minors riding motorcycles and driving cars in Ranchi and this practice has to come to an end in order to avert accidents. “Please do not hand over keys of two wheelers and four wheelers to your children. Every year, around 1.5 lakh people die in road accidents across India. Jharkhand’s road accident rate is lower than the national average but it still has to reduce,” he said.
State Transport Secretary Prawin Kumar Toppo said that his Department is now working on fixing the problems in all the identified black spots in a bid to reduce accidents. “Besides fixing the problems at all the black spots, we are working with the police to spread awareness and reduce accidents,” Toppo said.
While addressing media persons on Wednesday about the achievements of the transport and civil aviation departments at Suchna Bhawan in Ranchi, Singh said the State has come up with several new initiatives in railways, road transport, airways and waterways in a bid to strengthen the transport system in Jharkhand and improve its connectivity with other States and countries.
“We have strengthened the connectivity between villages and cities by starting bus services. Interstate bus permits have also increased. From November 2015 till date, we have given 146 permits for interstate AC buses,” Singh said.
In a bid to facilitate connectivity between rural and urban Jharkhand, the State has given 100 per cent tax relaxation to transport companies that launched their services in the area, he said. Permit for starting bus services from villages to cities was given at a nominal price of only Rs 1, he added.
In the past four and a half years, Jharkhand worked on increasing the revenue generated through transport and digitalising all the transport offices, said Singh. “Today, right from the process of issuing driving licence to permits and vehicle registration to change of ownership, everything has been made online,” he said.
Highlighting the progress made in Railway projects, Singh said that the State Government has pumped in an amount of Rs 3,585 crore in strengthening railway connectivity within Jharkhand. “With Centre’s support, the State has laid down new tracks to increase the connectivity between stations within Jharkhand,” he said.
Besides, the Government is also working on expansion of airports in Deoghar, Ranchi and Dhalbhumgarh. The State has also started Gliding Training Centres and Commercial Pilot Training Centres.