'1.5 lakh people die in road accidents in India every year'

PATHSALA, April 23: In India, 1.5 lakh people lose their lives and 5 lakh people are crippled for life in road accidents every year and in Assam alone around 2,000 people lose their lives in road accidents,” said Gautam Das, District Transport Officer (DTO) of Barpeta during the inaugural programme of the 29th Road Safety Week at Pathsala on Monday. The 29th Road Safety Week programme was kicked-off by Thaneswar Malakar, Deputy Commissioner of Barpeta, on Monday at Pathsala Higher Secondary playground. The theme for this year’s road safety week is ‘Sadak Suraksha, Jeevan Raksha’.

 Barpeta district Path Suraksha Samiti has been formed in this regard with the Deputy Commissioner of Barpeta, Thaneswar Malakar as chairman, Violet Barua,  Barpeta Superintendent of Police, and  Gautam Baruah as member secretary of the Samiti in order to generate mass awareness among the people. This celebration is being held under the direction of the Ministry of Surface Transport, Government of India, and State Transport Department.

 In the morning, cleanliness drive was conducted done by VRDS, an NGO, followed by lighting of lamp by Pabindra Deka, MLA of Patahcarkuchi LAC. Pabindra Deka in his speech expressed concern over the rise in the number of road accidents in the State. Deputy Commissioner Thaneswar Malakar in his speech emphasized certain measures to prevent accidents. He said that schools and colleges should issue strict order to the students during admission that they should come to schools wearing helmets while driving motorcycles. He also appealed the leading organization to be careful in this regards. Violet Borah, Superintendent of Police of Barpeta district, in her speech urged bikers to wear helmets properly.

 Plantation of saplings was initiated by Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy P, SDO (C ) of Bajali subdivision and Ananda Khataniar, brand ambassador of Environment and Forest department, Government of Assam.