Ramban: DM chairs Road Safety Committee meet

Ramban : District administration Ramban Friday decided to go tough against the traffic violators and initiate concrete measures to prevent accidents on Jammu- Srinagar highway and other roads of the district.
At a meeting of Road Safety Committee chaired by District Magistrate Showkat Aijaz Bhat, it was decided to identify vulnerable points on NHW from Nashri to Banihal for erection of parapets and signage, station ambulances roundthe clock at Ramban, Banihal and Ramsoo and take a host of other measures .The meeting also resolved to create awareness about road safety and conduct safety audit of roads in the district. The meeting was attended by SSP, Ramban Anita Sharma, ACR, Vevaik Puri, CPO, Uttam Singh, ASP, Sanjay Parihar, ARTO, Mohd. Saleem, CMO, Xen PWD, PMGSY, PHE, CEO, NGOs, officers of construction companies including Nvayuga, GAMMON, RAMKI and HCC.The District Magistrate directed the construction companies for erecting florescent painted crash barriers and reflector sign boards at critical points like Nashri, Kunfer Bridge, Digdole, Khooni Nallah, Anookhi Fall, Ramsoo, Digdol, Shitan Nallah, Sher Bibi, Battary Chashma and Hingni etc.
The ARTO and police department was asked to identify all other critical locations including the blind curves on NHW and link roads.He directed the construction companies to install emergency contact numbers and printed “May I Help” sign board on identified locations. Executive Officers of MC Ramban, Banihal and Batote were directed to maintain drainage system and remove encroachments along the highway. Police and traffic departments were asked to initiate pro-active and responsive measures for curbing traffic violations.Meanwhile, the meeting decided to invite all stakeholders to give their feedback on formulation of District Road Safety Action Plan and fixation of targets and timelines.The District Magistrate also stressed on engineers of PMGSY and PWD for making concerted efforts for repairing all existing road networks in the rural areas. Various public places and schools were also identified for sensitizing local people and students about traffic rules and road safety measures. In this regard instructions were passed for organising awareness camps and guest lectures by the experts from education, health, Motor vehicle, Police and social organisations.Earlier, ARTO Ramban informed about the initiatives taken to curb the menace of over speeding, over charging, wrong parking, drunken driving, under age driving etc on NHW and the link roads. He informed that Rs 21 Lakh fine was recovered from traffic rule violators, while 10 driving licences, 12 route permits of passenger vehicles were suspended and 14 violators were served notices.