: The police have been directed to curtail road accidents in the State by 30 per cent in the remaining months of the calendar year.
Minister for Home and Vigilance Ramesh Chennithala announced this at the inauguration of a planning workshop of SMILE (Seamless Interaction in Life Saving and Emergencies), launched by the Kerala Police at the police headquarters here on Saturday. The Minister said the police should create awareness among all sections of the people and seek their cooperation to reduce the accident rate.
The Minister said instructions had been issued to post police officers near educational institutions in the morning and evening to ensure hassle-free movement of students and to curb road accidents.
The Minister said SMILE and the Subha Yatra of the Kerala Police should go hand in hand to curtail road accidents. Funds would not be a problem and coordination and involvement of various departments and stakeholders would be ensured. A high-level meeting in this regard has been convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on June 24.
State Police Chief T.P. Senkumar said over 75 families had been orphaned in the last five years as their parents were killed in road accidents. Mortality and long-term disability due to road accidents can be brought down if timely evacuation and treatment were given in the golden hour. Eighty per cent of deaths due to drowning can be checked if artificial respiration was provided, he added.
ADGP (Headquarters and Traffic) Arun Kumar Sinha; ADGP (Intelligence) A. Hemachandran; Director of Health Services S. Jayasankar; and Principal, MCH, Thomas Mathew; spoke. Assistant Commissioners of Police, Traffic, from across the State and doctors attended.
