Admin engineering first, traffic engineering later

India surges ahead with the worst global road safety record.In 2011 the Government of India reported 1, 42,465 fatalities occurring due toroad accidents, a figure still growing at 5.5% p.a.  One of the key reasons this crisis is unableto be contained is due the absence of political and bureaucratic will.

I recall an effort of positive political will, and how thesame was thwarted by the lower bureaucracy in Goa. The Government of Goa in2000 considered road safety as one of its top most priority. It was a pleasantsurprise when Mr. Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa along with MrDigambar Kamat, then Minister in the BJP Government, along with Mr. GurunathKelekar of an NGO Marg, paid a visit to the Institute of Road Traffic Education(IRTE) in Delhi in early 2000.  MrParrikar invited us to establish a branch of the IRTE in Goa, towards helpingthe Government of Goa build their infrastructure in the areas of trafficenforcement, traffic engineering, driver training road user awareness and roadsafety education. On the assurance of an MOU, and even without the MOU beingexecuted, the IRTE created a temporary office at the Police Headquarters inJanuary 2001 and later set up a formal branch at Altinho, Panjim in August2000. In November 2001, a confidential MOU was drafted without our consultationby the Transport Department, where we had no choice but to accept and execute.

Until the period of the MOU, which ended in July 2004, IRTEcontributed, catalysed and promoted road safety in a large number of ways -Sponsored by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and the Government ofIndia.  IRTE catalysed to get twoInterceptors, 2 ambulances and 1 crane for the Government of Goa. IRTE createda Center for Analysis and Research in Road Safety (CARRS) under which theInterceptor program was carried out in association with Transport Department& Traffic Police. IRTE also brought its flagship vehicle lnterceptor-I.Together with these three Interceptors, camera based prosecutions amounted toover Rs. I.29 crores (12.9 million) was realised in this period. It was thefirst time in Goa that latest in technology systems like Interceptors, whichincluded the laser based speed measurement devices on video mode, were used fortraffic enforcement.

 To support the processof traffic management, 49 traffic improvement plans along with 10 researchstudies made by IRTE, were submitted to the government for implementation.

In October 2003 an Accident Investigation and AnalysisCenter was created through which many fatal accidents were investigated andreconstructed.

IRTE's contribution to Goa also included

•                   Training workshops for Motor Vehicle Inspectorsof Transport Department, Traffic Police, Engineers and Town Planners, CarDealers, Automobile Associations and other corporate bodies.

•                   School Conclaves Teacher training programmessponsored by the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Governmentof India were conducted in coordination with the Department of Education

•                   Road Safety Programmes for schools/colleges wereorganised wherein over 3600 students benefited from

•                   Refresher Training and Management Programs fordrivers of Kadamba Transport Corporation, Goa Traffic police and SecretariatDrivers were conducted at the IRTE premises in Altinho, Panjim.

•                   Road Safety Literacy Programme through communityinvolvement for villages and townships situated along the NH-4A & NH-17were organized through the support and assistance of the Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways and Transport Research Laboratory (TRL); UK.

Campaigns and Special Drives included

·                    Wheel Watch: Campaign against drunken drivingalong with the Corporation of City of Panjim and UDV India.

·                    Education Drive on use of helmets and seat belts

•                   To ensure that road safety initiatives organizedby the IRTE were public friendly and supportive, the Citizens AdvisoryCommittee and Medical Advisory Committee were formed and meetings held atregular intervals.

•                   The Student Traffic Volunteer Scholarship Schemewas initiated in Goa with the support of Shell India Ltd; National Foundationof India and the DIAGEO Foundation.

While the Chief Minister, over many meetings wanted theassociation to be continued, the lower bureaucracy at the Transport Department:the Director and his subordinates who were responsible for the control of theMOU and disbursal of agreed costs (which were Rs.45, 000 per month  for each of the  2 Interceptors and only Rs. 15,000  per month for other salaries,  includingmaintenance of the institution, stationary, technology, equipment’s,  and development costs of materials andprogrammes prepared in Delhi for Goa.Through IRTE’ efforts the Governmentgained two vehicles from the Central Government valued at 20 lakhs and finesout of Road Traffic Violation Enforcement by the Interceptors to the tuneof  1.20 Crores. The Government in returnhardly invested 30 lakhs on the total investment on IRTE.

Payments were held up by the transport department as theydid not accept that the domains of police training, road safety audits, trafficengineering improvement plans fell in the ambit of road safety capacitybuilding. Attention of the department was diverted to smaller items ofstationary, travel ticket costs etc. rather than the overall development. Itclearly appeared that the Department was trying their best to ensure that theDelhi-wallahs’ return to the capital.

The government displaying helplessness, IRTE wasunceremoniously made to quit our partnership and handed over the operationsincluding the premises and Interceptors to the Transport Department, Governmentof Goa in December 2004. Despite repeated reminders and visits to the TransportDepartments, as well as to the Chief Secretary until 2007,  theGovernment of Goa did not pay the dues ofRs.5.39 lakhs to the IRTE, when we decided not to pursue the matter anymore.

As far as road fatalities are concerned, the annual figuresremained between 227 and 231 during our presence. These have now reached afigure of 338 in the year 2011.

I have some observations and recommendations:

·        Goa needs its own cadre of Administrative andPolice Service. I have noticed a vertical divide between the upper and lowerbureaucracy, which also has a lot to do with the understanding of the Goanculture, traditions and trust. Goa has remained for many years with amulti-party government, when certain reforms could not be initiated. Now thatthe current government enjoys a majority, capacity building of their owndepartments in the domain of traffic management: Transport, Police, PWD, andEducation, must be done on a need based and scientific manner. Roles andresponsibilities of all traffic management agencies need to be clearly definedwith a goal to reduce road fatalities by 50% in the Decade of Action for RoadSafety: 2011-2020.

·        Traffic Engineering forms the basis ofscientific traffic management, and therefore a dedicated Traffic Engineeringand Management Center must be set up for Goa, which should either be headed bythe Roads Department or the Police, but must have both these departmentsworking together. Finally, a coordination mechanism is most important, whichhas to be overseen by the Chief Minister.

·        Goa is a small and beautiful state with a highlevel of literacy, and the citizens are proud to be Goan. Goa must set anexample for the country not only in tourism but also in road safety as well asin traffic management.

As the well-to-do owner of Baluja International morepopularly known as 'Baluja Shoes'', Dr Rohit Baluja need not have botheredabout the alarming rise of road accidents in the country. A doctorate in CivilEngineering, Baluja in 1991 made history registering India’s first citizen'sinitiative that aimed at working with government machinery to improve trafficconditions in the country – the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE). TheIRTE became the country’s lead agency in road traffic management which hasTraffic Enforcement vehicles – Interceptor, Mobile Crash Investigation and RoadSafety Audit Laboratory – CrashLab, the School Conclave programme for impartingroad safety education in schools, the National Highway Literacy programme,Journey Risk Management and the Student Traffic Volunteers Scholarship Scheme.

In Goa, Baluja’s IRTE had, in conjunction with GoaGovernment, set up state-wide Interceptors and capacity building to containroad rage and rising number of accidents due to traffic indiscipline. Theinitiative however died slowly as Goa Government lost interest in the drive tomake Goa’s roads safer.