Odisha Police Gears Up To Reduce Road Mishaps During Picnic Season

Bhubaneswar: It is that time of the year when the winter chill draws people out for a picnic trip with their friends and family. However, during this period, road mishaps also rise and in a bid to minimise loss of human lives, Odisha Police has decided to intensify patrolling near picnic spots starting from December 15, 2019.

Additional director general of police (Crime Branch), Santosh Upadhyay on Thursday informed that already the department has written to chief engineers of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and other agencies in the State to identify accident prone areas near various popular picnic sites.

The officials have been asked to rectify engineering defects at the earliest while the Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) have also been asked to initiate appropriate action against picnic vehicles in case of overloading, lack of fitness certificates and other violations.

Already a road safety cell has been set up in Crime Branch headed by a DSP rank officer.

“It has been decided to conduct black spot analyses and in case of serious road mishaps, DSP will visit the spot to conduct a detailed review,” said Upadhyay.

In another development, the Crime Branch has provided 500 e-challan machines to police stations. Under the 5T charter, the e-challan machines will help the officials to compound traffic fines in electronic mode.
Besides steps are being taken to provide adequate number of breath analysers to police stations in the State.