BHUBANESWAR : In a bid to reduce road accidents and consequent fatalities, the Odisha government has roped in Save Life India Foundation (SLF) to improve road safety and trauma care services in the State. The New Delhi-based non-profit organisation will identify, recommend and assist the government in treatment of vulnerable spots where maximum accidents and deaths have taken place in last few years.
The Transport department on Thursday inked a pact with SLF to reduce road deaths significantly in the next three years. The agreement was signed by Joint Commissioner (Road Safety) Sanjay Biswal and SLF founder and CEO Piyush Tewari in presence of Transport Commissioner Arun Bothra.
Apart from working in partnership with government agencies, industry and grassroots organisations for regulations that eliminate unsafe driving behaviour and enforce traffic laws to protect road users, the foundation will help make roads safer for everyone through crash investigations and smart engineering design.
With support from ambulance operators, police and emergency medical teams, it will also provide urgent trauma care and train first responders in life-saving skills and bridge gaps between road crashes.
"The partnership with Save Life Foundation is a major step towards achieving the goal of zero road fatality. The Foundation has improved situations in various other states and the combined efforts will bring good results in Odisha as well. Once the remedial measures are suggested and implemented, fatalities will reduce by around 50 per cent," he said.
The SLF will also assist the government in forming a technical support unit (TSU) for road safety at the office of State Transport Authority. The team will analyse policy framework on road safety and recommend changes or modifications to ensure effective implementation. "Our Zero Fatality Corridor (ZFC) model will help meet the State’s commitment to reduce road deaths," said Tewari.
In 2016, SLF had partnered with Maharashtra and automotive leader Mahindra and Mahindra to implement India’s first ZFC on the 100 km Mumbai-Pune Expressway where road crash deaths has reduced by 52 per cent. The initiative has since been replicated bringing down fatalities by 54 per cent on NH 48 and 100 per cent on NH19 in the Bhalswa section in Delhi.