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Strengthening road safety
"There has been no effort from the poice to curb over speeding. The Police Department can enforce the law better for road safety."
K. P. Somarajan
As the Additional Transport Commissioner and State Transport Commissioner, K. P. Somarajan, has been engaged in taking steps to weed out corruption and to keep touts away from the Motor Vehicles Department for the last three years.
The ambitious computerisation project, which is expected to boost the image of the department, has been kicked off at the Regional Transport Office in the capital. On deputation from the Police Department, he is the senior-most Inspector General of Police in the Kerala Cadre at present. Mr. Somarajan has been instrumental in introducing a series of steps to strengthen road safety.In a chat with S.Anil Radhakrishnan.
As much as 70 per cent of the corruption prevailing in the department and inordinate delays in services faced by the motorists now can be reduced with computerisation. Paper work would be reduced and senior officials will be designated to advise motorists on various matters and to keep the touts at bay, says Mr. Somarajan.
The computerisation of some services in the capital and in other two major cities had shown that touts and middlemen could be kept at bay in the offices, he points out.
The computerisation, which is estimated to cost Rs. 50 crores would be completed in a year, would make the department more people-friendly.
A 1976 batch IPS officer hailing from Enaath, near Kottarakara, Mr. Somarajan says the proposed Road Safety Authority and Road Safety Fund will help to check road accidents and streamline the payment of compensation to accident victims.
A one-time "cess'' will be collected from vehicles for generating funds for road safety, including educating motorists, creating driver awareness and providing trauma care facilities.
Road accidents occur due to over-speeding, negligent driving, proliferation of vehicles and inadequacy of road infrastructure among others, says Mr. Somarajan, who had also served as City Police Commissioner in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
The entry of new vehicles on the road every day is also complicating the matters for the department. The road network has not kept pace with the increase in vehicles.
The number of vehicles registered crossed the 25-lakh mark in April this year while there were only 7.8 lakh vehicles registered exactly 10 years ago. During last year alone, 2.20 lakh vehicles were registered in the State.
Speed restrictions are never followed outside the city limits and often the enforcement agencies do not apprehend those who violate the speed limits.
"There has been no effort from the police to curb over-speeding. The Police Department can enforce the law better for road safety'', the Transport Commissioner says.
The mobile squads of the police, which patrol the streets in important towns, should be equipped with speed radars to apprehend those indulging in over-speeding, says Mr. Somarajan.
The decision of the department to make speed governors mandatory for heavy transport vehicles and stage carriers would curb to an extent the over-speeding of heavy vehicles.
The pollution caused by automobiles in the State is a matter of concern for the Government, says Mr. Somarajan.
The introduction of computerised pollution under control certificates would bring in a sea change in the State, as all vehicles would have to be taken to the testing centres for checking the emission levels.
"The department is going to closely monitor the issuing of computerised PUC certificates,'' he adds.
Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar
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Life
Bangalore
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Coimbatore
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