With as many as 4,178 persons dying in road mishaps, Odisha recorded close to 5% jump in road accident fatalities in the current year from January to September corresponding to the last year’s tally.

There were 8,939 road accidents, 4,178 fatalities and 7,898 injuries occurred during the year 2023 from January to September. There is 2.84 % increase in accidents in 2023( Jan to Sept) and 4.89 % increase in fatalities (Jan to Sept) as compared to 2022 of the same period whereas  there was 11,663 i.e 6.19% increase in road accident in 2022 as compared to 2021 and 7.5 % increasing fatalities in 2022 as compared to the year 2021, said officials.

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In view of the rise in road accidents, the state government will launch  Zero Fatality Week from 1st to 7th December.

The vision of Zero Fatality Week is to further reduce the rate of increase in road accidents and fatalities. The State Government is committed to address this issue and with aim to Zero Fatality during 1st to 7th Dec, 2023, the Govt. in Commerce & Transport Department has given instruction to all Districts to prepare action plans for each district in response to Standard Operating Procedure given to all Regional Transport Offices.

As per information, in the Zero Fatality Week observed in last April-2023, there was 33 % decrease in accidents and 14.6 % decrease in fatalities during the same period in 2022. Boudh, Rayagada, Sonepur, Bhadrak, Malkangiri , Nayagarh and Sambalpur district are top performing districts that observed 100% reduction in fatalities during that period.

All District Collectors have been to achieve better than the previous time, get all government offices and employees involved and to work out activity plan, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena advised

Self Help Group members who have got scooters under ‘Mission Shakti Scooter Yojana’ and are learners will be sensitised to be less prone to accidents. Road safety engineering plan, behavioural changes and enforcement should be top priority in observance of Zero Fatality week, he urged.

The violations like drunken driving, driving without a helmet, use of mobile phones while driving, speeding, triple riding, insurance, illegal parking, wrong side driving, etc. will be sternly dealt with.

The National High Authority of India and other agencies concerned with road safety have been instructed to hold monthly meetings for solutions to problems like removal of potholes, repair of barriers, improvement of roads, and identification of black spots prone to accidents etc. All stakeholder departments have been sensitizing their roles in details, added the official.