Tripura has recorded a drop of 13 percent in Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) in last by adopting different safety measures and awareness among people, said Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Monday.

After a high-level meeting of the State Road Safety  Council (SRSC) at the Civil Secretariat on Monday, Chowdhury speaking with media persons said that the police and traffic departments played a crucial role for dropping of RTAs across the state and recorded a drop of 13 percent last year. He hoped that in the coming days the department in association of police and traffic department will reduce road accidents to its lowest level in coming days.

On Monday, Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, who is also chairman of SRSC, chaired the 16th meeting of the SRSC at Civil Secretariat in Agartala in presence of top officials of Transport and Traffic departments, said that every human life is precious and keeping this in mind, the current state government and the Transport department are actively working on road safety.

Chowdhury said that along with various discussions in the 16th State Road Safety Meeting, a project titled “Cashless Treatment for Road Accident Victims 2025” has been launched.

The Transport Minister further stated that the road safety initiative aims to raise public awareness and bring down the rate of road accidents. This project will be particularly helpful for victims of road accidents and critically injured individuals in urban areas. He mentioned various past initiatives, such as installing traffic lights and signals, awareness campaigns by the Transport department, and school and community-level education programs. The minister emphasized that road accident rates in the state have already decreased significantly due to these initiatives.

He also noted that the new project, “Cashless Treatment for Road Accident Victims 2025” has been launched to ensure immediate transportation of injured persons to the nearest hospital within the ‘golden hour’, significantly increasing the chances of survival. For this, there are provisions of financial assistance from the government.

Chowdhury further added that police and traffic personnel play a major role in managing road accidents and emphasized the need to replicate their alertness and vigilance. He remarked that due to continuous efforts from the Transport department, public awareness about road accidents has increased greatly.

He stressed that accountability is being emphasized in the case of accidents, and historical data is being analyzed. Chowdhury expressed hope that road accidents in the state would decrease further in the future, thereby saving many lives.

Highlighting different road safety measures,   the minister said that the department has run a ‘good samaritan’ scheme awarded people with Rs.5000 for rescuing injured people during road mishaps.

In the meeting, the Secretary of the Transport Department, Subrata Roy, presented a detailed report on the “Cashless Treatment for Road Accident Victims 2025” project. He discussed various components of the project. Senior officials from the Road Safety Council also elaborated on different initiatives.

On Monday’s meeting was attended by Transport Department Secretary U. K. Chakma, Health Department Secretary Kiran Gitte, Agriculture Secretary Apurba Roy, DGP, Anurag, DIG Ipper Manchak, SP(Traffic) Kanta Jahangir and other senior officials of Transport department were also present.