Dip in deaths due to road accidents, courtesy Safe Drive Save Life

Kolkata: Bengal witnessed a drop in the number of deaths due to road accidents by 13.34 percent in the past one year with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's state-wide Safe Drive Safe Life campaign.

The total number of road accidents has also gone down by 16.06 percent and number of people who were injured also dropped by 12.10 percent. The CM said after the administrative review meeting that the Safe Drive Safe Life campaign has yielded good results as it has helped in reducing road accidents across the state. "But we have to keep in mind that most accidents take place in winter due to heavy fog. So the police have been directed to continue with the campaign till February 15 to make people aware about road safety," she said.

Later, she also posted on Facebook that "Safe Drive, Save Life campaign was launched for the first time in West Bengal. Due to our continuous monitoring and extensive campaign of this programme, road accidents in Bengal have reduced by 16.06%, road injuries have reduced by 12.10% and fatalities have reduced by 13.34% during the period Jan-Oct, 2017 as compared to position in Jan-Oct, 2016. This achievement has been appreciated by many bodies. We are trying our best to improve it further and seek cooperation of all. I thought of sharing this with all of you."

She further said that in India, Bengal's position in terms of checking road accidents comes just after Punjab. "Punjab is a smaller state. So if we go according to population, then Bengal occupies the first position," she said adding that the initiative has also been appreciated by the Supreme Court.

"Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Additional Chief Secretary of the state Transport Department, reported during the administrative review meeting that the Supreme Court has appreciated the measures taken by the Bengal government in reducing road accidents," Banerjee said.

It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister had launched the state-wide Safe Drive Save Life campaign in July 2016. Several other states had later followed it and initiated similar campaigns. In Bengal, refilling stations had stopped giving fuel to anyone if he or she comes riding his or her bike without wearing helmet. Massive programmes were taken up by West Bengal Police and the Kolkata Police to create awareness among commoners.