Punjab govt to introduce specialised force to check road accidents

To be raised as a part of the Punjab Police, the Sadak Surakhya Force personnel will be deployed at national and state highways where nearly 75 per cent of road accidents occur every year

The Punjab government will raise a specialised force to streamline traffic movement and check road accidents, which claim 12-14 lives in the state on an average every day, an official said.

To be raised as a part of the Punjab Police, the Sadak Surakhya Force (Road Safety Force) personnel will be deployed at national and state highways where nearly 75 per cent of road accidents occur every year.

With a strength of around 1,300 personnel, the force will be equipped with modern gadgets such as body cameras and breathalysers, they said. The force will also be given interceptors to check the speed of vehicles.

"Our effort is that the force will start functioning before August 15," said Additional Director General of Police AS Rai, the force's nodal officer.

The state government has earmarked nearly Rs 40 crore for the Sadak Surakhya Force, he said.

Its personnel will also get a special uniform, he said. "The uniform is being designed. As it will be a specialised force, its uniform will be different."

The introduction of the force will check road accidents, Rai said.

"They will keep a check on accidents that take place due to unattended vehicles parked on roads during foggy weather," he added.

If any road accident takes place, personnel from the force will ensure medical relief for the victims. They will also check speeding and drink driving, the two main causes of road accidents.

According to Rai, nearly 4,500-5,000 people die in road accidents in Punjab every year -- at a rate of 12-14 deaths a day. Punjab reports around 5,000-6,000 road accidents a year.

Rai said Punjab's traffic research institute found that 75 per cent of the accidents and fatalities occur on national and state highways and major district roads. It was also found that the majority of the accidents are caused by overspeeding and drink driving between 6 pm and 12 am.

Based on the data, it was proposed to raise a force that will be deployed at national and state highways to reduce accidents, Rai said.

The personnel for the force will be drawn from new recruits of the Punjab Police.

According to the Punjab Road Accident Report-2021, a total of 4,589 people died in road accidents in 2021, a nearly 17 per cent jump from 2020. The death toll from accidents was 4,740 in 2018, 4,525 in 2019 and 3,898 in 2020.

The Sadak Surakhya Force will not only check road accidents and streamline vehicular movement but also reduce the burden on the local police, the official said.