BHUBANESWAR: The Commissionerate Police has identified five black spots on National Highway-16 between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack where it will install road barriers to check rash driving and traffic fatalities.The move comes after a spurt in accidents on the NH in the last one week which claimed the lives of five persons besides injuring several others. The five accident-prone zones on the highway are Acharya Vihar flyover, the stretch near Hotel Siddharth in Nayapalli, Aiginia (near Khandagiri), Batabhuasuni and Pahala.
DCP (Traffic) Bijay Kumar Sahu said the black spots were identified based on the number of road accidents reported from these areas. Reckless driving, use of mobile phones and violation of traffic rules were the main reasons behind such mishaps, he said. “Police will convene a meeting with officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to discuss the installation of road barriers and ‘Accident prone zone’ signs on the identified black spots to check over speeding and minimise road accidents and loss of life.
The traffic police have planned to place the barriers on the NH from early morning till 9 pm every day. The barriers will be removed after the specified period for smooth movement of heavy vehicles during the night.
Sahu said other accident-prone zones, if any, will also be identified and corrective measures taken in a phased manner to minimise road accidents and deaths. Notably, fatal mishaps have become a regular affair on the City roads. On Monday, a man and his son died after their motorcycle was hit by an unidentified vehicle on Acharya Vihar flyover.