BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government on Sunday rolled out a mobile and web application for integrated road accident database (IRAD) that will keep track of mishaps. An initiative of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) supported by the World Bank, the IRAD application will enable collection of accident data on the spot. It will help analyse causes of road accidents and devise safety interventions.
Launching the app, Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said the application aims at maintaining the national database on road accidents. The accurate and uniform accident data collection mechanism will improve road safety in the State, he said.
Principal Secretary of Commerce and Transport department Madhu Sudan Padhi said the database will assist the government in bringing reforms in driving rules and road engineering ensuring safety measures on interior roads and highways besides creating conditions for prompt disposal of road accident related cases.
The app will enable the stakeholders such as police and officials of transport, PWD and NHAI to use their mobile phones to collect accident data on the spot and facilitate the timely exchange of information. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has appointed District Rollout Manager in every district for implementation and training to use the application.
Transport Commissioner Arun Bothra said the department is focusing various citizen-centric services and effective road safety initiatives to reduce mishaps and fatalities. There has been a steady increase in road fatalities from 3,931 in 2014 to 4,738 in 2020, an increase of about 21 per cent in the State. The app developed by IIT-Madras was also launched in Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
State to phase out old vehicles
The government will phase out 15-year-old vehicles as per the Vehicle Scrapping Policy of the Centre. The government will implement the scrap policy soon, the Transport Minister said on Monday. The fitness of the vehicles, which are unfit for road, will not be renewed further and those will be scraped, he said.
“Officials have been asked to prepare a list of vehicles which are 15 years old and need to be scrapped. A decision in this regard will be taken soon,” he added. As per the policy, the owners of scrapped vehicles will get a waiver on the registration fee for their new vehicle and will be entitled to relief in road tax.