The Hindu : Special vehicles for highway patrolling

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 03, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Special vehicles for highway patrolling

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD April 2. A fleet of 60 vehicles, specially designed to patrol highways in the State, was flagged-off by the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, here on Wednesday. This has been described as country's first fleet dedicated to patrol the highways.

The gleaming Toyota Qualis has been equipped with first aid kit, stretcher, communication system, digital siren and public address system. The spacious vehicle accommodates 10 passengers and has seats that fold-up to provide space for carrying injured persons in case of emergencies.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Naidu expressed hope that highways in the State would be patrolled better with the induction of the fleet. He said more than 9,500 persons had died in road accidents while another 46,000 received injuries in the State during the last year alone.

The Chief Minister put the toll in accidents as high, about four times the number of deaths reported in different crimes. He called for identifying the stretches which were accident-prone and addressing the problems that caused accidents.

The Home Minister, T. Devender Goud, called for better coordination between different departments such as Transport, Revenue, Roads & Building (R&B) and Police, towards checking the increasing numer of accidents. He also wanted the Revenue Department to remove encroachments such as dhabas on the highways for better use of roads.

The Director General of Police, P. Ramulu, said Andhra Pradesh ranked third in the list of States in road accidents after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Appealing for safe usage of roads, he remarked, "every accident victim leaves the society traumatised.''

The Principal Secretary (Home), Bharat Chandra, Additional Director General of Police, A.P.Highway Safety Authority, S.R. Sukumara and Director (Marketing), Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Satoshi Aoki, were also present.

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