UN Road Traffic Safety Forum lauds Haryana police initiative to check accidents on NH 44

The United Nations (UN) Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety has appreciated the initiative launched by Haryana Police for reducing the deaths and injuries due to road accidents on NH 44 (Sonipat-Ambala Highway).

"Under this initiative, Haryana Police has fixed the target of reducing the number of road accidents and number of deaths on the 187-kilometer long stretch of NH 44 passing through Haryana by 33 per cent in the current year," read a statement by the police on Thursday.

Director General of Police (DGP), Haryana, Manoj Yadava addressed a webinar of UN Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety, wherein he highlighted various components of this initiative and also mentioned that, during the year 2018, 743 people have died due to road accidents on this stretch, which is more than the total number of deaths in entire Netherlands and UAE during that year.

Yadava also added that Haryana Police had signed an MoU with the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) for carrying out Road Safety audits of each kilometer of NH 44 passing through Haryana.

"The road engineering related improvements suggested by the IRTE will be implemented by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) as part of the special understanding by Haryana Police and the state's Department of Transport," added the statement.

Since a large number of road fatalities are accounted for by pedestrians and cyclists who met accidents while trying to cross NH-44, Haryana Police, along with the other stakeholder authorities, will create underpasses and foot over-bridges at points where large numbers of pedestrians cross the road, particularly at busy points in Sonipat and Ppat districts.

In order to create strong deterrent for law breakers, Haryana Police is placing a network of speed checking radars, interceptors, Automatic Number Plate Readers (ANPRs) and CCTV cameras at different locations along with the Highway passing through five districts of Sonipat, Ppat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala.

( With inputs from ANI )