The International Road Federation (IRF) has urged the Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amrinder Singh asking him to join hands in reducing deaths during road accidents in the state of Punjab as its Two cities Amritsar and Ludhiana in Punjab state account for one of the highest road deaths in the country . Punjab ranks 11th in number of fatal road accidents among top 13 states, with 5,077 persons being killed in road accidents during the year 2016. About 384 persons died in 549 road accidents in Ludhiana with severity of 69.9 % and 102 people died in 152 road accidents with severity of 67.1 % in the holy city of Amritsar, during the year 2016.
According to latest data released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, among all the million-plus cities in India, roads were deadliest in Ludhiana and Amritsar, followed by Asansol, Durgapur and Varanasi.
“ India accounts for more than 10 per cent of the total fatal road accidents worldwide. As per the road accidents data, during 2016, about 1.51 lakh people lost their lives and 4.94 lakh injured in 4.8 lakh road accidents. India is a signatory to the UN Decade of Action and is committed to bring down the road accident fatalities by 50% by 2020.’’ said Mr K K Kapila, Chairman, International Road Federation.’’
“The International Road Federation (IRF) urges the Punjab Government to participate in the 18th World Road Meeting (WRM 2017), which is being held in India for the first time, during November 14-17 this year. The WRM 2017 will be attended by over 4000 road engineering and safety experts, transport experts from automotive sector, experts from Intelligent Transport Systems sector and companies engaged in manufacture of road safety products from across the globe. They will come together to interact and discuss issues relevant to road infrastructure and mobility and to exhibit and showcase their products” said K. K. Kapila.
“The deliberations at the Conference will focus on finding sustainable solutions for managing increased vehicular traffic, pollution and safety related issues, together with safe road mobility through Plenary Sessions with high level key note address, 44 technical sessions, a number of parallel and side sessions to deliberate on a host of topics structured under 10 themes. A Special Session to Fast Track Road Safety by Corporates on the 16th November 2017, spearheaded by the Presidents of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India. A special plenary Session on 17th November 2017 include a Chief Ministers’ Forum on the17th November 2017” said Mr Kapila.
“The major highlight of WRM 2017 will be an exhibition showcasing state-of-the-art technologies on road safety and traffic regulations including control systems, communication and navigation devices, driver training systems, Intelligent Transport System (ITS) Access Control, Barriers, Vehicle Detection, Speed Cameras, License Plate Recognition, Vehicle Classification, Fibre Optics, Road Signs, Highway Infrastructure, latest parking technologies, Road Building, Road Marking & Equipment, Street Lighting, Parking, Pay & Display, Traffic Management, Display Systems, Traffic Monitoring, and Traffic Control Signalling.” Said Mr Kapila
“A meeting of the Transport Ministers from across various countries and the Transport Ministers of States of India is being organised as a curtain raiser to the WRM 2017 on the13th November 2017. This forum will facilitate opportunity for India to listen to the Transport Ministers of various countries as to how they have managed to address the critical issue of ‘Safe Roads and Smart Mobility’ in their respective countries’’ said Mr. Kapila.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, (MoRTH) Government of India, NITI Aayog, national Chambers of Commerce like FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM and a number of national and international organisations, have extended their support to WRM 2017.
