Follow rules of road: Patowary

GUWAHATI, April 25: A road safety awareness meeting on the occasion of the 29th National Road Safety Week was held at District Library, Guwahati on Wednesday. The State is observing the road safety week from April 23 to 30, 2018. The theme of this year is ‘Sadak Suraksha - Jeevan Raksha’.

Expressing deep concern over road fatalities, State Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said, ‘Around 1.5 lakh persons lose their lives in the country and 7,000 in Assam every year in road accidents. Though there is a four per cent decrease in road accidents in the State as compared to the number of accidents last year, there is a need for a combined movement by the government agencies to work in close collaboration with police, media, private stakeholders and public to reduce the number of accidents.”

Patowary appealed the youths to follow the rules while riding a bike or driving a vehicle. He called upon the transport officials to conduct similar road safety awareness campaigns round the year. He also added that media has a big role to play in generating road awareness among the public.

DCP Traffic Amanjeet Kaur appealed to the parents to set examples by obeying the road safety measures so that their children can emulate which in turn will benefit society. Kamrup (M) Deputy Commissioner Virendra Mittal underlined the importance of using helmet, seat belt and following signage. He also proposed that road safety module must be incorporated as a co-curricular activity in educational institutions to take the message to the younger generation.