HYDERABAD: With the objective of managing traffic scientifically rather than merely collecting challans, as well as providing emergency medical assistance, the state government on Thursday established the ‘Telangana Traffic Management, Road and Rail Safety Bureau (TG-TMARS).
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy decided to form TG-TMARS to provide a permanent solution to the traffic problems plaguing the state and to prevent road accidents. Accordingly, Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju issued a GO.
The new Bureau will function under the State Road Safety Council, headed by the chief minister. The specialised Bureau will be headquartered in Hyderabad and headed by an officer of the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) or Inspector General of Police (IGP). It will monitor more than 32,000 km of roads and the movement of over 1.8 crore vehicles across the State. In addition to road transport, the Bureau has also been entrusted with metro and railway safety.
A ‘Road Accident Response Officer’ will be appointed at every police station and will be available round the clock.
In addition, Highway Patrolling Units equipped with speed detectors and advanced cameras will continuously patrol the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and highways longer than 50 km.
A dedicated ‘Traffic Management Fund’ has also been established to operate the system. Forty per cent of the traffic fines collected by the police will be transferred to this fund. The funds will be used exclusively for staff training, advanced technology, patrolling vehicles and emergency road repairs.