Patiala Deputy Commissioner Dr. Himanshu Agarwal has taken a strong stand on traffic problems and road safety in the city and directed the concerned departments to take concrete steps to smoothen traffic and prevent road accidents. Presiding over the meeting of the District Road Safety Committee, he said that black spots should be identified and removed and no negligence will be tolerated for the safety of precious lives of the people.
After the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner personally inspected the traffic jams on Badungar-Khalsa College Road during the day and the traffic jams near Manipal Hospital and DAV School on Bhupindra Road. He directed the officials to submit a report on the action taken to smoothen traffic at both these places within two weeks.
On this occasion, OSD Urban Development Muklin R., Additional Commissioner Municipal Corporation Simarpreet Kaur, RTO Dr. Poonampreet Kaur, SP Traffic Ashok Kumar and DSP Traffic Puneet Singh Chahal along with other officials were present.
To solve the problem of traffic jam in front of Khalsa College, the Deputy Commissioner asked the Principal of the college, Dr. Dharminder Singh Ubha, to cooperate in making the parking of students’ vehicles smooth. He directed the Municipal Corporation to pave the unpaved area on the side of the road with tiles and to put up yellow bars to prevent random parking. Apart from this, he also asked to remove food stalls and other obstacles on the roads.
To ensure the safety of girls near the college, he directed the traffic police to take strict action against those who are roaming around and issue challans to those who violate the rules. He said that activities like making reels by youth outside the college gathering there should be kept under control and if necessary, action should be taken as per the law. He said that he can also conduct surprise checks with the SSP to take stock of the situation in this area.
Similarly, the Deputy Commissioner also gave instructions to the concerned departments to solve the problem of traffic jams and illegal parking in front of DAV School and near Manipal Hospital on Bhupindra Road. He asked the school and hospital management to cooperate with the traffic police and the Municipal Corporation. He directed to make this area a no-parking zone and keep the road free from illegal encroachments. Apart from this, he also asked to implement one-way traffic system on the road in front of the school for two weeks on a trial basis during the holidays from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
During the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner stressed on the strict implementation of the Safe School Vehicle Policy. He said that safe movement of school buses and compliance with the rules should be ensured, but the bus should not be stopped and checked while the children are sitting in the bus. He asked all the SDMs to inspect the inner city and village roads in their respective sub-divisions to identify the places where accidents are likely to occur and get the necessary repairs done. He clarified that in case of an accident due to negligence of any department or agency, the accountability of the concerned department or agency will be fixed.
ADC (Urban Development) Navreet Kaur Sekhon, all SDMs and officials of Public Works Department, National Highways, Punjab Mandi Board, Municipal Corporation, PDA, Forest and Education Departments were present at the meeting.