Cops train vendors, dhaba owners to respond in cases of accidents

Barinderjit.Saluja

Mohali: The traffic police, in collaboration with National Highway Authority of India, Red Cross and Institute for Development and Communication (IDC) trained roadside

vendors

and

dhaba owners

to respond in cases of road accidents taking place at black spots. As many as 35% of

black spots

identified in Mohali fall on the National Highway, especially through the urban area and 20 black spots on NH pass through Zirakpur-Derabassi and Lalru.

The exercise, which is the first of its kind, was started in Zirakpur on Tuesday, said Punjab traffic adviser Navdeep Asija. “Here, we will train first respondents, who are dhaba owners, roadside sellers and auto drivers. They can play a vital role during the golden hour period during an accident at black spots. We will train them in first-aid and ways to handle an accident victim and shift the person to hospital,” he added.

At 92, Mohali district has the maximum hotspots in Punjab and 63% of fatal road accidents take place on these places. The first report on “Identification and rectification of Punjab road accident black spots” was released under Tandrust Punjab Mission. Out of the 92 black spots, 20 have been identified on the NH from Zirakpur to Lalru.

A comprehensive study conducted by a group of residents with NGO ArriveSAFE and Club D2S says that 148 road accidents have occurred on a 7 km stretch on national highway (NH-22) between Dera Bassi-Zirakpur in the past 28 months, leaving 49 dead.

Traffic in-charge, sub-inspector (SI) Narinder Sood, along with traffic adviser Charanjit Singh, trained dhaba owners, street vendors and auto drivers, who are considered to be first respondents.

A comprehensive study on Road Safety Analysis and Identification of Accident Prone Areas was prepared by a research team headed by additional director-general of police (Traffic) (ADGP) Sharad S Chauhan, then Mohali SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal, traffic advisor, Punjab Navdeep K Asija and project manager, Punjab Vision Zero Project Arbab Ahmad.

The study said that Mohali has the second highest number of road accident deaths in the state.

Punjab traffic advisor Navdeep Asija also conducted a three-dimensional (3D) safety audit using drones to investigate the geometric design of three blind spots on Airport Road in Mohali. The report revealed major flaws in design and engineering, proving that the road is not pedestrian or cyclist friendly.

The 3D audit was also conducted on road crossings near Sohana gurdwara, IISER intersection and sectors 66/67 light point intersections. It suggests that construction of roundabouts on these locations could make them safer.

Harman Singh Sidhu, president, ArriveSAFE said, “We need to rectify the designs of highways, giving enough space to pedestrians, cyclists and separate lanes for two-wheeler riders. Plugging of illegal openings to NHs will save many lives.”