Chandigarh, July 29 – Haryana Chief Secretary, Mrs. Keshni Anand Arora said that the 'Haryana Vision Zero' programme, which was started with the aim of reducing the death rate in road accidents in the state, has reduced the road accidents by almost seven percent and to achieve the goal of zero accidents, there is a need of public participation along with generating awareness of traffic rules. For this, the government and the people will have to put in joint efforts in this direction.

Mrs. Keshni Anand Arora was speaking in the Haryana Vision Zero-Institutionalizing Road Safety function organized here today. During the program, the message of Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal was also shown. The website of Haryana Vision Zero was launched by Mrs. Keshni Anand Arora and those, who did excellent work under Haryana Vision Zero, were also honored.

She said that the Chief Minister has lauded the stakeholders for successfully implementing the Haryana Vision Zero Program in the state. She said that loss of life in road accidents not only has a negative impact on the family, but also adversely affect the economic progress of the country. Reducing the road accidents has become a major challenge today. He said that according to a survey, the death rate in road accidents in rural areas is high as compared to urban areas, for which relevant departments will have to take strict measures together.

She directed the Police and Health Departments to provide data of road accidents so that the reasons of the accidents could be ascertained. He said that in order to stop the occurrence of accidents, there is a need to speed up the steps in this direction which include locating the roads in need of repair, making separate lines for cyclists, road for pedestrians and installation of CCTV cameras for safety.

Mrs. Arora said that in order to reduce the accidents, it is the responsibility of the people also to follow the traffic rules. She said that the police also plays an important role in taking the injured persons to hospitals during road accidents. Therefore, the Police and Health Departments need to work together, she added.

Additional Chief Secretary, Transport Department, Mr. T.C. Gupta said that the Haryana Vision Zero program was started by the Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal in Gurugram on May 3, 2017. For this, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Haryana Government, NASSCOM and the World Resources Institute. In the first phase, from May 2017 to December 2018 Haryana Vision Zero program was started in 10 districts, after which the program has been implemented in all 22 districts in the second phase from January 2019. It was also informed that 230 people were saved in the first phase of the Program. Road safety audits have been done for 6554 kilometers of roads, 1386 crash investigations were done and 141 District Road Safety Committees meetings were held.

Mr. Gupta said that Haryana Vision Zero Program has reduced the road accidents by almost seven per cent in the state. 40 percent each in districts Charkhi Dadri and Kaithal, 10 percent or more in eight districts and three districts have shown 5 to 10 per cent reduction.

Director General of Police, Mr. Manoj Yadava said that 75 per cent of the people killed in road accidents are between 12 to 35 years of age. He said that the average speed of vehicles in Haryana is very high and the Police Department has been working to put a check on it.

Others present on this occasion included, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works (Building and Roads) Department, Mr. Alok Nigam, Principal Secretary, School Education Department, Mr. Mahavir Singh, Principal Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department, Mr. Anand Mohan Sharan and Transport Commissioner, Dr. Virender Kumar Dahiya, besides representatives of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Chandigarh.