Insta
With Rising Fatalities On National Highways, Ex-Servicemen With Body Cams To Be Roped In For Patrols, CCTVs Every 5 Km
The Kasara Ghat on the Mumbai-Agra National Highway (Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint via Getty Images) (representative picture)
With rising fatalities on National Highways (NHs), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has come up with a plan to deploy ex-servicemen to check traffic violations on 11 stretches in Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar as pilot for the wider project.
Over 52,000 deaths were recorded due to traffic accidents on the NHs in 2016 with the number growing to 54,046 in 2018, as per a report by Times of India, with the share of NHs in total road deaths hovering around 33-35 per cent.
The ex-servicemen will also get body cameras to record traffic violations along the highways. “While the fixed CCTV cameras will record violations including speeding, wrong overtaking and zig-zag driving, ex-servicemen will record other violations such as wrong parking and driving against the flow of traffic," said an official.
India, unlike several other countries, doesn’t have highway patrols with the local police tasked with maintaining order on the highways. The task however, goes neglected due to manpower shortages and central ownership of the NHs.
Introducing ElectionsHQ + 50 Ground Reports Project
The 2024 elections might seem easy to guess, but there are some important questions that shouldn't be missed.
Do freebies still sway voters? Do people prioritise infrastructure when voting? How will Punjab vote?
The answers to these questions provide great insights into where we, as a country, are headed in the years to come.
Swarajya is starting a project with an aim to do 50 solid ground stories and a smart commentary service on WhatsApp, a one-of-a-kind. We'd love your support during this election season.
Click below to contribute.
Latest
