Bhubaneswar: Eighteen patrolling units were rolled out for various state and national highways across Odisha on Monday by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Patnaik said that these units will play a crucial role in saving the lives of accident victims on highways.
He said the state government has a target of creating 36 patrolling units in various accident-prone stretches.
The functioning and experience of these 18 units in the first phase will guide the government for further action and future initiatives, he added.
Patnaik asked officials to start more sensitisation initiatives for drivers on various road safety mechanisms and laws relating to it.
The introduction of the highway patrolling will help reduce the time for taking an accident victim from the spot of an accident to the nearest hospital, he said.
"The quicker we can take an injured person to hospitals, the better is the chance of survival," Patnaik said.
Around 4,000 people die in road mishaps in Odisha every year, an official said.