Odisha Strengthens Road Safety Measures

Bhubaneswar: In a determined push to enhance road safety and save lives, a high-level review meeting was chaired by Principal Secretary, Commerce and Transport Department Usha Padhee, today. The meeting focused on assessing ongoing initiatives and charting strategic interventions to create a safer, more secure transportation network across the state.

The review evaluated the implementation status of previous decisions and examined the latest data on road accidents. While significant progress was acknowledged, urgent attention was called to critical areas such as black spot rectification, the full-scale implementation of the Intelligent Enforcement Management System (IEMS), and compliance with Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCoRS) guidelines.

Rising road accidents in certain districts, particularly in the mining belt, were flagged as a major concern. Participants emphasized the need for enhanced enforcement strategies, stricter compliance monitoring, and robust emergency response mechanisms. IIT Madras, the state’s technical partner, presented innovative data-driven approaches, including scientific crash investigations, road safety awareness campaigns, and capacity-building initiatives for enforcement agencies.

The state’s four-pronged approach—engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency care—was reviewed comprehensively. While initiatives such as highway patrolling, road safety awareness drives, and trauma care enhancement were acknowledged for their positive impact, challenges like pending e-challan disposals, inadequate enforcement manpower, and gaps in road engineering safety features were highlighted as requiring immediate resolution.

The government outlined several priority initiatives, including the accelerated rollout of IEMS across additional highway stretches, deployment of more highway patrolling vehicles, and the establishment of new Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR) centers. Strengthening district-level road safety action plans, creating truck terminals at key locations, enhancing post-accident response mechanisms, and engaging Junior Rakshaks in road safety awareness campaigns were emphasized as focus areas. A significant development is the ongoing process to amend the Odisha Motor Vehicle Rules, 1993 following amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Act and Rules which will include provisions for the cancellation of driving licenses for habitual offenders among others. Additionally, the Government is working on the two-way integration of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) with e-DAR (electronic Detailed Accident Report) to seamlessly exchange accidents data and diligent analysis of the accidents.

To further promote convergence, financial assistance will be provided to the police for road safety data digitisation and support for citizens in the event of accidents. Earlier similar support was rendered to the Health & Family Welfare Department.

Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) is one of the panaceas in the road safety aspect. It is worth highlighting that the Chief Minister, Odisha, during the state-level inaugural function of the observance of the National Road Safety Month-2025, had announced that, financial support to the transport operators will be provided for installation of ADAS devices in the transport vehicles. The same was discussed in today’s meeting and State Transport Authority, Odisha was requested to work out the detailed modalities.

Reaffirming Odisha’s unwavering commitment to reducing road accidents and fatalities, Smt. Usha Padhee emphasized the importance of data-driven decision-making, leveraging technology, and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships. She urged all stakeholders to work in close coordination and adopt a time-bound approach to achieve the state’s ambitious target of a 50% reduction in road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030, in alignment with national and global road safety goals.

Among others CMD, OSRTC, Diptesh Kumar Pattanayak , Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Excise, Poonam T Guha ,Chinmay Biswal Secy STA, representatives from IIT Madras, and officials from the Commerce & Transport Department, Health & FW dept , School & Mass Education dept were present in the meeting held in 5th floor conference hall of Kharabela Bhawan .