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Punjab Traffic Research Institute found that 75 percent of accidents and fatalities occur on national and state highways and major district roads. (representative image/PTI)
A Punjab Police official said that with a force of around 1,300, the force will be equipped with modern tools such as body cameras and respirators.
An official said the Punjab government will set up a specialized force to streamline traffic and check road accidents, which claim an average of 12-14 lives in the state every day.
To be brought up as part of the Punjab Police, the personnel of the Sadak Surakhya (Road Safety Force) will be deployed on national and state highways where nearly 75 per cent of road accidents occur every year.
They said the force, which has a strength of around 1,300, will be equipped with modern equipment such as body cameras and respirators. The force will also be given interceptor missiles to check the speed of the vehicles.
“Our effort is for the force to start operating before August 15,” said Additional Director General of Police A.S. Ray, the force’s nodal officer.
He said that the state government has allocated nearly Rs 40 crore to Surakhia’s honesty force.
He said that its members will also receive special uniforms. Uniforms are designed. Since it will be a specialized force, its uniform will be different.” Rai said that the introduction of the force will check road accidents.
He added, “They will monitor accidents that occur due to unattended parking of vehicles on the roads during foggy weather.”
In the event of any road accident, the personnel of the force will ensure medical relief to the victims. They will also check for speeding and drink driving, the two leading causes of road accidents.
According to Ray, approximately 4,500-5,000 people die in road accidents in Punjab each year – an average of 12-14 deaths per day. The number of road accidents in Punjab is around 5000-6000 annually.
Rai said the Punjab Traffic Research Institute found that 75 percent of accidents and fatalities occur on national and state highways and major district roads. It was also found that the majority of accidents were caused by excessive speeding and drunk driving between the hours of 6pm and 12am.
Al-Rai said that based on the data, it was proposed to raise a force that will be deployed on national and state highways to reduce accidents.
The personnel of the force will be drawn from the new recruits of the Punjab Police.
According to the Punjab Road Accident Report – 2021, a total of 4,589 people died in road accidents in 2021, an increase of nearly 17 percent over 2020. The death toll from accidents was 4,740 in 2018, 4,525 in 2019 and 3,898 in 2020 .
The official said the Surakhia Sadaq force will not only check road accidents and streamline the movement of vehicles but will also reduce the burden on the local police.
(This story was not edited by the News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
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