A boulevard of assurance: CEE Jorhat's 'safer roads for safer childhood'

Rajlakshmi Barman

(She can be reached at rajlakshmibarman24@gmail.com)

There is barely anyone right now who isn't acquainted with this quote of Mr Edward Coke, "Precaution is better than cure." Though the quote seems to be circumscribed for heath at present times but its omnipresence in our precarious lives will always remain relevant for other aspects too. Most Indian roads have served as a watermark for dangerous road crashes that 1274 road crashes alone happen every day and it is reportedly, the second largest killer of youngsters in the country. It is not only death but road crashes also scar people emotionally, physically and economically. The high mortality and injury rates of particularly school-going children associated with road safety make it an important public health issue that needs to be addressed urgently. In this backdrop, the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) with the help of IIT Guwahati and Dept. of Home and Political Affairs, Govt of Assam (represented by the Jorhat Police) have jointly initiated a child road safety project, "Safer Roads for Safer Childhood (SRSC)" in Jorhat, Assam which has been guided by Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), a programme hosted by the International Red Cross (IFRC) and funded by Botnar Foundation (a Swiss-based philanthropic organization). It is a part of the Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge (BCRSC) and as a matter of fact, India is one of the six countries that have won the Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge.

SRSC seeks to enhance the child road safety scenario of the city by objectively conducting a situational assessment of child road safety, development and implementation of school area road safety plans for six selected project schools they are Jorhat High Madrassa School, National Telegraph Girls High School, Lakshmi Union High School, Balya Bawan High School, Royal Oak High School, Jorhat Model Composite School to reduce possibilities of injuries to children commuting to and from schools and generate like policy recommendations for the decision-makers.

Road network data illustrated that most of the schools in the Jorhat municipality area are concentrated in the central region rather than being equally distributed throughout the city. This made this project even more relevant in terms of safe passages and traffic concentration, considering the rapid urbanization of Jorhat city. The preliminary report also surveyed the usage pattern of the various types of vehicles viz. two-wheelers (16%), three-wheelers (10%), LMV (Light motor vehicle), cars, public buses, private vans (7%) and also walking (37%) and bicycling (19%). Accordingly, 6 out of 54 schools within the municipality area were identified based on maximum road crashes in its vicinity which is mentioned above. CEE commenced its awareness campaigns through interactions with the students from classes 6 to 8. The main reason for choosing this age group was that children in different growing stages have different levels of cognitive abilities. Two teachers from these project schools were imparted with dedicated orientation and training to serve as eye-openers in this subject. They were educated in terms of challenges of safety, statistics, prevalent road laws and rules, preventive measures, road signs, modes of transport and all the required dos and don'ts. They served as the main link between schools and CEE to coordinate certain activities like sharing information on road safety messages in morning assemblies, updated enforcement laws in the city regarding road safety, helping students at their gates during drop off and pick up hours etc. Moreover, the school management and development committee (SMDC) and parents were oriented and engaged in visualization workshops by CEE. CEE aptly devised certain innovative tools to engage the students. Although the cognizance started initially with verbal lessons, it was further designed to ignite their minds via education on mandatory and cautionary road sign hoardings, posters, Assembly quizzes, road safety quiz competitions, road-safety oaths in English and Assamese according to the medium of instruction, frequent interactions, expressive wall paintings in Balya Bhavan High school and Jorhat Model Composite School by the school students and other artists. Moreover, a minimum of 15 were handpicked from these schools who displayed early signs of leadership skills for the propagation of the road-safety message. Armbands and caps were distributed to these student volunteers to earmark their duties as Road-Safety Friends (RSF). They were made responsible for the further multiplication of the message and were made to nominate their successor in the junior classes after their promotion to higher classes so that the link continues to prevail. Another engaging method concocted by CEE is Road Safety Ludo in Schools. A correct answer or step in a tricky situation meant going up the ladder and a mistake or wrong answer meant being prey to a snake's gulp! The SRSC mainly aims to bring about a behavioural change among the students via group discussions, skits and lively debates including regular updates on assignments that sensitize students about road safety issues. For example, a group was given the topic "Convince parents driving students to school in a motorcycle to make their children wear helmets". Another group was given the topic "Convince your elder brother/sister to wear the helmet properly".

Furthermore, an SRS (School Road Safety) plan was customised by CEE according to the school's exclusive needs, its details and teachers trained in specific programmes with the aid of the inputs from the schools and approved by school inspectors. Correspondingly, road safety kits that included barricades, safety jackets, traffic signs and cones were given to the schools to be placed in the specific risk zones for the children's safety. A micro-plan developed by teachers also prescribes a future course of action or like activities to be hosted by CEE in the schools with a detailed budget, allocation of resources in the events like Parents-Teachers meet to ensure the continuity of the road safety initiative. CEE's remarkable work in the improvement of the Mithapukhuri junction with road safety infrastructures that impacts nearby schools are Jorhat High Madrassa School, National Telegraph Girls High School, Lakshmi Union High School, Balya Bawan High School is highly applaudable. Improvement works such as markings on the road, railings on the footpaths, different signages, six pedestrian crossing humps are some among many of their conscious efforts as well as from various stakeholders.

Thus, with hindsight, the notion of road safety needs to be prioritized as a major issue of concern because if a nation's progress is measured along the lengths of well-developed roads that facilitate swift communication, the safety of the road users ensures its population's physical, mental and economical sustainability. After all, safety is not something we should fiddle with especially vis-à-vis children with the onus of providing it lying on only one party.