Additional highway patrol vehicles will soon be deployed to cover certain stretches along the national and state highways falling within the limits of Tiruchi and Pudukottai districts.
New multi-utility vehicles meant for highway patrolling have already been dispatched. While five vehicles have been provided for Tiruchi rural police, two have been earmarked for Pudukottai. The additional vehicles would be equipped with necessary paraphernalia for effective supervision and control of traffic offenders, and to rescue victims from accident spots within the ‘golden hour’.
For Tiruchi rural police, the addition of five vehicles would take the number of highway patrol units to 11.
Of the six patrol units currently in operation, four of them cover certain stretches along the Tiruchi-Chennai, Tiruchi-Dindigul, Tiruchi-Madurai, and Tiruchi-Karur national highways, while two units are deployed along state highways.
Over 225 km of national highways and more than 200 kilometres of state highways fall within the limits of Tiruchi rural police.
Tiruchi rural police authorities had forwarded a proposal last year seeking sanction of additional patrol units and specifying manpower requirement and equipment including video cameras in an effort to curtail accident rate, have effective supervision and control over traffic offenders, and rescue victims of accidents.
Now that additional patrol vehicles have been given to us, the exercise of reworking the stretches along the highways was currently underway, says a senior police officer of Tiruchi Rural.
The lengthy stretches covered by some highway patrol units would be split into two sectors and the idea is to deploy the new vehicle in the divided portion. Among the five new vehicles, three would be deployed on the national highways and two on the state highways, the officer added.
As for Pudukottai, the three highway patrol units functioning at present are deployed along the Tirumayam-Gandarvakottai, Mathur-Pudukottai, and Pudukottai- Aranthangi stretches. The additional vehicles are proposed to be deployed at Viralamalai to cover the 21 km-stretch along the Tiruchi-Madurai NH falling under Pudukottai district and the 42-km East Coast Road stretch from Kattumavadi to Arasangarai, say police sources. According to statistics, 34 fatalities were reported on national highways in Tiruchi and Pudukottai districts in October alone, while 14 fatalities were recorded on state highways in the two districts.
