Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, today chaired a meeting to review various road safety initiatives undertaken by the Road Safety Council across Jammu and Kashmir at Civil Secretariat.The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Transport Department, Asgar Hassan Samoon; Transport Commissioner, J&K, Pardeep Kumar; Commissioner JMC, Avny Lavasa; IGP Traffic, T Namgyal; SSP Jammu, Shridhar Patil; Additional Secretary, Road Safety Council, R.K Bhat, representatives of NHAI and other officials of the concerned department.Advisor stressed upon the officials that prime objective of road safety measures should be reducing road fatalities besides taking care of traffic congestion on roads. He impressed upon the officials to devise an action plan for effective implementation of all road safety measures including interceptors, breathe analysers, speed cameras etc for proper traffic management.The meeting was informed that more than 80 unauthorized cuts have been made across the National Highway creating vulnerable spots for accidents.
Besides, 33 black spots and 60 approach roads along the Highway are accident prone and need to be addressed.Advisor Bhatnagar asked the officials to redesign roads in such a way that on connecting with the highways, they do not create conflict points. He also asked the officials to put up traffic signages on all roads especially hilly roads across J&K which are more vulnerable to accidents.The Advisor further directed the officials that the traffic management at toll plazas should be improved so as to reduce the waiting time with proper lane management. He impressed upon the officials to enhance the law enforcement and traffic regulation at various choke points across Jammu city. He suggested that all stakeholders like market associations, transport unions etc be involved for managing traffic problems.The Advisor directed the officials to monitor these enforcement activities every 15 days for effective management of traffic across the Jammu and Kashmir.