Nagaland chief minister T.R. Zeliang Monday launched a year-long road safety campaign in Kohima, in a bid to increase awareness amongst motorists and promote road safety.\nAccording to chief minister, most of the road accidents take place due to carelessness or rash driving and in certain cases lack of awareness on road safety guidelines among the motorists and pedestrians.
\nIn India around 80,000 people were killed every year in road accidents, which accounts for around 13% of the total fatality all over the world, he said. In this regard, he suggested that Road Safety Awareness campaigns should be conducted more frequently with seriousness.
\nTaking serious note on this, state government has also set up Road Safety Council and Committee at the state and district level.
\nHowever, according to Zeliang, more funds needed to implement road safety measures in the state.
\nMinister transport, IT and Civil Aviation and chairman Nagaland Road Safety Authority P.Paiwang Konyak said, statistics indicated that about 1.5 lakh people were killed in the country in road accidents in 2015.
\nOn the average, according to Paiwang one road related death takes place every four minutes across the country and during 2010- 15, there been an alarming increase in fatalities caused by run-overs, traffic accidents and serious injuries.
\nPaiwang also informed that accident rate in Nagaland was not high and alarming as compared with the rest of the country. However, with the steep terrain of the land, they were more fatal in nature. Quoting national data, he said Nagaland has the least road crash fatality with 30 deaths in 54 accidents reported in 2015, mostly due to rash driving, drinking and driving and poor quality of roads.
\nFurther, Paiwang informed that road safety has been constituted in 2013 under Nagaland road safety act 2013.
\nTechnical consultant road safety and enforcement Veerender Singh Rathore in his presentation disclosed that in 2015, 146133 people killed in 500279 accidents and since 2006 India stand top on accidental case.
\nAccording to Rathore, Nagaland witnessed 305 accidents in 2014, with 81 fatalities and 74 injured and in 2015, and 30 fatalities and 74 injured in 54 accidents. He explained that States have been given a target to bring down fatality rate by the end of 2020 to 15%.
\nThe programme was organised by union ministry of road transport and highways in collaboration with transport department of Nagaland.
\nCommissioner Transport Elias T. Lotha proposed vote of thanks.<\/p>\n