Qazigund, Dec 30: Kashmir Valley has witnessed a huge decline of nearly 30 per cent in road accident fatalities during the year, with 202 deaths reported so far, compared to 279 fatalities in the previous year.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Traffic Rural Kashmir, Ravinder Paul Singh, shared the details with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO). He said the reduction was due to intensified enforcement, improved coordination among departments, and growing public awareness.
“Our deployment is primarily focused on traffic management. Any violator found committing a traffic offence is booked strictly as per the provisions of law,” Singh said.
The SSP said that the mission undertaken this year would continue with the same zeal and enthusiasm in the coming year as well.
He said the people in Kashmir are largely educated and aware, and their cooperation has played a crucial role in bringing down the number of accidents. “With just two days remaining in the year, we hope that people will continue to abide by traffic rules and regulations in the future as well,” he said.
SSP Singh further said that efforts would be intensified to further curtail the death toll due to road accidents. “Our vision and mission are clear—to minimise accidents and save precious lives,” he added.
He said the Traffic Police would also strengthen its outreach programmes. “We will reach out to schools, colleges, sumo stands, and other public places to spread awareness and further reduce road accidents,” he said.
Providing enforcement details, Singh said that over three lakh challans were issued during the year, generating revenue of more than Rs 11.24 crore, besides multiple vehicle seizures during special drives. “We followed several parameters with one clear aim—to save lives,” he said.
The SSP lauded the role of all stakeholders, saying officials of the Traffic Police wing, district administration, district police, municipal bodies, Beacon authorities and the R&B department made valuable contributions.
“We also introduced changes at policy levels and added several new measures. As a result, the data now reflects a positive outcome,” he added. (KNO)
