New Delhi: Meghalaya which has one of the highest man vehicle ratio in the country has sought funds from the Centre to initiate steps for road safety in the State.
The hill state is witnessing rising incidence of motor accidents, Transport Minister HDR Lyngdoh said on Monday while participating in the first meeting of the 14th National Road Safety Council (NRSC) here.
The State needs more funds for the road safety for highway patrol, on-the-road ambulance services, on-the-road repair and breakdown vans and other things, Lyngdoh said, while adding that latest breath analysers were also required to check rampant incidents of drunken driving.
Addressing the conference, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Oscar Fernandes, said that it is time to shift from ad-hoc road safety activities to developing and implementing sustainable programmes which can be done by prioritizing road safety at the political level. He asked all States to join hands with the Union Government to make roads safer by developing a sustainable road transport system across the country.
Fernandes said that though the number of accidents has shown a decreasing trend during the last two years and number of fatalities has also come down during 2012 for the first time, the number of fatalities is still very high and the transport sector cannot afford to become complacent.
Lyngdoh also argued that with a huge vehicle density and hill topography, accidents are increasing in Meghalaya.
The State Minister, however, assured that the Government would try to bring the State at par with the rest of the country vis-à-vis road safety. Meghalaya being a tribal state has to keep extra vigil on its roads for safety measures, he added.
The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) is the apex body for road safety established under Section 215 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministries and Organizations of the Government of India, State Governments and other Members of the National Road Safety Council.