Srinagar: Governor N.N. Vohra chaired a high-level meeting at Civil Secretariat here to review problems relating to traffic management in the State. He had detailed discussions with the senior officers of Transport Department, Traffic Police, Motor Vehicles Department and R&B Department, among others.
The meeting was attended by Advisors to Governor: B.B. Vyas, K. Vijay Kumar, Khurshid Ganai; Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam; Principal Secretary, Home, R.K. Goyal; Spl DG-PHQ, V. K. Singh; Principal Secretary Transport, Dr.Asgar Samoon; Principal Secretary, Planning, Rohit Kansal; Commissioner R&B, Khursheed Shah; IG Traffic, Basant Rath; Transport Commissioner, Saugat Biswas; and Development Commissioner (Works) Satish Razdan.
Principal Secretary Transport Department, Dr. Asgar Samoon, Basant Rath, IG Traffic and Transport Commissioner, Saugat Biswas, made presentations to project the varied steps being taken to improve the traffic management system and the challenges faced in the process.
Governor directed Dr. Samoon to take immediate steps for strengthening traffic management; ensuring safety on roads and institutionalizing professional planning in the domain of traffic management; immediate establishment of the Jammu and Kashmir Road Safety Fund in accordance with the provisions of the J&K Road Safety Council Act 2018. Governor directed that at least 75% of the receipts collected by MVD and the Traffic Department through compounding of Traffic Rule violations should be allocated to the Fund which shall be utilised for meeting expenditures on Road Safety, such as setting up signages, launching awareness and media campaigns, addressing issues at black spots etc for reducing the incidence of serious road accidents.
Governor directed Principal Secretary Transport to ensure that a Traffic Planning Wing is urgently put in place for professional research and policy formulation, both short and long term, for planned traffic management in the State.
Governor also reviewed the status of Pollution Checking Centres in J&K and was informed by Transport Commissioner that a joint team of officials of MVD and Pollution Control Board had recently undertaken an audit of all the Pollution Checking Centres and only those centres were allowed to continue which were found working strictly as per nor The rates charged for pollution certification have been enhanced and brought at par with other States.
Governor directed IG Traffic and the Transport Commissioner to ensure that only those Pollution Checking Centres which are working with computerized testing and certification systems should be allowed and adequate enforcement should be put in place to ensure that vehicles without Pollution Under Control Certificate are not allowed to ply on the roads.
With a view to keeping pollution levels to the minimum and to ensure safety of those traveling by passenger vehicles Governor directed Chief Secretary to urgently examine the ceiling age upto which commercial vehicles, including passenger auto rickshaws, may be allowed to operate in the State.
Governor emphasized the maximum possible use of automation in the management of traffic and transport sector and directed that the installation of Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) be further strengthened and made functionally flawless on most urgent basis. Transport Commissioner was directed to fix quick timelines for launch of the citizens’ App ‘RIDESAFE’ which will empower passengers of transport vehicles in playing a proactive role for the prevention of road accidents. The App beingdeveloped by the Motor Vehicles Department is undergoing tests. Governor also directed the quick commissioning of the data-analysis software developed by the MVD – “Road Accident Data Management System (RADMS)”- which will facilitate scientific data processing and analysis of road accidents to enable Government and road owning agencies to take remedial measures for preventing road accidents.
Governor Vohra appreciated MVD’s initiative of the recently started home delivery of Driving Licenses and Registration Certificates through speed-post. He directed that the visits of applicants to the RTO and ARTO offices should be further reduced by introducing higher scale of G2C services on the online mode. While appreciating the efforts of the Traffic Police Department for on-ground action and management of traffic, he directed IG Traffic to institutionalize systems and processes and ensure that they are sustainable.
Governor urged Advisor Ganai and Chief Secretary to strengthen MVD and Traffic Departments on urgent basis for ensuring their effective performance.
