Maha: Road Safety Week to be held between Jan 11-17

The Maharashtra government's transport department will observe the 31st edition of Road Safety Week from January 11-17.

Several activities like women's two-wheeler rally, eye check-up and medical camps for drivers, workshops, social media campaigns, and road safety programmes in schools, will be conducted for advocacy and promotion of road safety, an official said.

Transport secretary Ashish Kumar will chair a meeting next week to review preparations for the RSW.

"The inauguration function is likely to be held on January 13, instead of January 11 which falls during the weekend," an official said.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has assured financial help of Rs 10 crore to conduct mass safety campaigns, the official said.

Maharashtra sees over 35,000 road accidents every year, in which 13,000 people are killed.

Till November, 2019, a total of 30,084 accidents occurred in Maharashtra, killing 11,387 people and injuring 26,428.

The Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Department had targeted to bring down the number of road accidents by at least 10 per cent in 2019.

Among the steps taken are a dedicated road safety cell, setting up of a road safety fund, identification of accident-prone black spots, formation of a state road safety council and district-wide road safety committees.