CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Monday directed the state government to submit a report on the status of implementation of the Road Safety Policy of Odisha-2015.
The division bench of Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Savitri Ratho issued the direction on a suo motu registered PIL after amicus curiae Asok Mohanty pointed out that a lot is required to be done as per the stated policy to make the roads safer for users and public. Hence, the court should inquire from the state government as to what measures have been taken so far for the effective implementation of the policy, Mohanty contended.
Earlier on October 21, the court had suo motu proceeded with a petition in public interest and appointed Mohanty as amicus curiae. One Manish Kumar Thacker filed the petition seeking intervention against the alarmingly high occurrence of fatal road accidents on the state highway-10 and NH-49 that pass through Jharsuguda town and in the district due to the increasing movement of trucks and heavy vehicles. The state government had filed a counter affidavit to the petition.
On Monday, the amicus curiae submitted before the court that the counter affidavit did not disclose definite steps that have been taken to prevent the alarming number of deaths due to road accidents in Jharsuguda town and the district. Taking it into consideration, the bench posted the matter after three weeks, expecting the state government to file the status report by then.
The Road Safety Policy of Odisha was introduced by a resolution of the Commerce and Transport department on February 3, 2015. Its vision was to have a safe road network for all road users, with priority to pedestrians and cyclists, to achieve zero road accidents in the long run with a mission to reduce road accidents by 50 per cent and fatalities by 20 per cent.
The policy’s preamble said, “The road accident scenario in Odisha causes a great concern. More than 10 persons die every day due to accidents. While fatal accidents cause loss of invaluable human life, all accidents cause pain, grief, and misery as well as economic loss.
The increasing number of accidents, loss of lives and resources necessitate the state government to frame policy on road safety.”