Sambhajinagar RTO begins work to make 100 black spots safe

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, along with other authorities, initiated action to make at least 100 accident black spots in the district safe for vehicular movement. After the RTO verified geotags for the black spots, district collector Deelip Swami instructed officials to make all related data available to commuters via different platforms as an early intervention.As per the latest survey carried out by SaveLIFE Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving road safety and emergency medical care across India, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district has as many as 209 black spots. Of these, authorities decided to focus on the most vulnerable 100 black spots to begin with, as instructed by Swami during the latest meeting of the District Road Safety Committee.Regional Transport Officer for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Vijay Kathole, on Wednesday said the 100 black spots concerned fell within the ambit of 10 police stations in the district, having jurisdiction over National Highway (NH) 752I, NH 52, NH 752E, NH 752H, NH 753F, and State Highway 148, among other roads."The official intervention includes strict implementation of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) norms, among other safety measures, to reduce road accidents and associated fatalities at these black spots. Along with the RTO, multiple govt agencies, including NHAI and PWD, along with the Home, Transport, Health and Education Departments, will be involved in making these spots safer," he said.As per official parlance, a blackspot is a road section of 500 metres or a junction where the number of road crashes exceeds the Average Annual Total Crashes (AATC) calculated for the area under consideration.Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar's superintendent of police (Highway Traffic), Rupali Darekar, said besides national and state highways, some district roads also accounted for a considerable chunk of black spots."Acting on the instructions of Centre and the State, collective measures are being taken to make black spots safer for vehicular traffic. A major thrust will also be given to mass awareness and educating young minds," she said.Authorities could not ascertain the total number of road crashes involving identified black spots in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district until Wednesday evening.