HYDERABAD: The State government would come out with its own Road Safety Act soon to bring down the number of deaths due to accidents. A Road Safety Bill is being prepared to be introduced in the Budget session of the State Assembly. “The Law Department is currently vetting the Bill,” official sources told Express on Friday.
Except a few States Like Kerala, no other State in the country has its own Road Safety Act. “We will bring an innovative Road Safety Act for the State,” an official said. So far, road safety rules are general in nature and there is no work demarcation. “Once, the new Act is in place it will define the duties of Roads and Buildings, Police, Health and Transport departments,” the sources said.
Currently, the Roads and Buildings Department is laying roads and its role ends after that. The R&B department too will be given some important powers to regulate traffic and reduce deaths due to accidents, the officials said.
The officials are also proposing to increase fine amounts and take more stringent punishments against traffic violators. Besides, mobile squads will also be pressed into service. Setting up of an exclusive department for road safety is also on the cards, sources said.
Chief Secretary SK Joshi and transport secretary Sunil Sharma attended a sub-committee meeting of the Union Ministry of Transport recently. The sub-committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge suggested to the State to make efforts in bringing down road accident deaths by 50 per cent in the next five years. According to Sunil Sharma, around 7,000 road accident deaths are being reported every year in Telangana. The State government has also identified black spots and rectifying them. The next meeting of the sub-committee will be held after three months and a progress report would be presented to the committee.