Road safety cells, ‘zero fatality corridors’ soon
NEW DELHI: The Delhi road safety council on Thursday set timelines for all agencies to implement the regulations mandated under the city’s road safety policy, which was notified in July last year.
Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot, who heads the council, directed all road owning agencies to set up ‘road safety cells’ by March 31.
As of now only the state transport department has a road safety cell, even as it has no control in terms of ownership and maintenance on any road in Delhi. “Public Works Department (PWD), which manages 1,260 km of roads in the city, has assured the council that it will set up its road safety cell by March 31. All municipal corporations have also been asked to comply,” Gahlot said after a meeting of the council on Thursday. Constituted in August, 2017, this was the council’s third meeting.
Government officials said the council will also soon come up with ‘safety standards’ for all flyovers and bridges in Delhi and an audit will be conducted to check their structural stability. This comes at a time when there have been at least four fatalities on elevated roads in three months.
To ensure pedestrians in the city are able to move seamlessly, Gahlot said all district magistrates will ensure footpaths are continuous and encroachment free, and intersections are improved in their area. “An action taken report will have to be submitted by all distict magistrates on a monthly basis. The road safety cell will also contribute in improving traffic engineering. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has been made the nodal agency for the same,” the minister said.
Traffic and transport experts who attended the meeting said the council also decided to create ‘zero fatality corridors’ on five stretches. The task to draft plans for these corridors has been given to the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) and the Central Road Research Institute.
“Stretches connecting Bhalswa chowk, Azadpur, Mukundpur and the Rohtak Road will be taken up under the zero fatality corridors. Once the plans are ready, agencies will have to execute it by the end of this year,” said Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning, SPA, who attended the meeting.
Besides, SPA and Institute of Road Transport Engineers have been asked to prepare an ‘annual training calendar’. “Under this, all civil engineers in road owning agencies such as the PWD and MCDS will have to undergo compulsory training on road designing and safety measures,” he said.
The education department informed the council that it is already in the process of introducing a ‘road safety curriculum’ in its schools. “Rules on safe transportation of school students is underway and all school staff including the transporters involved will have to undergo mandatory training sessions annually,” an official said.