BHUBANESWAR: With rising road mishaps claiming more and more lives, the State Government on Thursday decided to give compounding powers to police officials in the rank of ASI and above for motor vehicle (MV) offences. However, this MV power for compounding will be given to police stations which have jurisdiction over national and state highways, Chief Secretary AP Padhi who chaired a high-level meeting said.
The Transport Department will issue an appropriate order to this effect shortly. Currently, such authority is vested in policemen serving in urban police districts of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack apart from Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, and Balasore.The Government also decided to enforce helmets for pillion riders and police stations will be given the power to penalise the violators.“Though the number of accidents have decreased in Odisha, fatalities per accident figure is not very encouraging. Hence, helmet will be made compulsory for riders and pillion riders in the State,” said Principal Secretary Home Asit Tripathy.As per the data provided by Transport Commissioner MS Padhi, as many as 10,532 accidents occurred in the State in 2016 causing death and injuries to 4,435 and 11,312 persons respectively.
The Transport Commissioner said, around 57 per cent accidents occurred in rural areas while 43 per cent took place in urban areas. In 44 per cent cases, two wheelers were found responsible for causing the accidents followed by 20 per cent caused by small passenger carrying vehicles, 23 per cent by trucks and 5 per cent by buses. In 96 per cent cases, drivers were found at fault for the road mishaps.
The Chief Secretary has asked the district collectors and SPs to chalk out joint enforcement strategies, particularly on State and National Highways, and intensify enforcement activities on the Highways without causing unnecessary harassment to the people.He further directed them to hold district level road safety committee meetings every month with definite enforcement targets. They were asked to observe one Zero Tolerance Day every week