Apart from road engineering, the most important factor for improving road safety in the country is to change human behaviour that violates road rules, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), has said.
Speaking at the Young Achievers awards function organised by the Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO), he said till human behaviour changes, rules won’t be followed, “Government alone cannot do this; we need private partnerships.”
About 20 young achievers, including business women, entrepreneurs, sportswomen and social workers, were awarded during the ceremony.
Jayanti Dalmia, National President, FICCI Ladies Organisation, said that the role of YFLO has never been more relevant and important for the gender-inclusive growth story of the nation.
FLO, with 19 Chapters and 9,000 members across India, represents women entrepreneurs and professionals through its mandate of empowering them and equipping them with skills and capacities to become equal contributors to the Indian economy.
Women entrepreneurs can help to promote road safety at the school level as well as teach their employees and their families to imbibe a culture of road safety and use their logistics and carriers to propagate the message of road safety education and enforcement of road safety rules; these are key to improving safety standards in India, the Minister said.
Gadkari noted that out of the five lakh accidents that occur each year in India, resulting in 1.5 lakh deaths, 60% are youth aged 18-34 years.
He further said that women should also work towards improving ecology and the environment.
To improve air quality in the national capital, the Ministry of Road Transport is developing the six-lane Urban Extension Road (UER) II, which will be the capital’s third ring road. It is likely to be operational by the end of this year.
The roads on this stretch have been constructed using garbage from Ghazipur and other landfills in Delhi. At present, officials have used almost 20 lakh tonne of waste from landfills. The waste is processed at micro plants near the construction site in Alipur and Karala. It will transform the landfill shape from mountain to flat land within the next two years.