Bhubaneswar, Odisha : To strengthen road safety and reduce rising accidents, Odisha DGP Yogesh Bahadur Khurania chaired a high-level meeting at the State Police Headquarters on Friday. The meeting, organized with the support of the State Transport Authority, brought together senior police, transport, and district officials.

The DGP expressed concern over the growing number of accidents in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Ganjam, and Khordha. Most fatalities, he said, involve two-wheeler riders. To tackle the situation, the state will soon deploy 500 traffic wardens across these five districts. District SPs will oversee their recruitment, training, and deployment.

The meeting discussed a series of initiatives to strengthen Odisha road safety, including:

• Stricter enforcement of traffic rules and action against violators

• Regular patrolling on national highways

• Expanded use of CCTV surveillance for monitoring

• School and college-level road safety education programs

• Awareness drives in villages and urban centers

• Action against rash and drunken driving

• Strict enforcement of helmet and seatbelt rules

• Action on heavy vehicles parked carelessly on highways

• Deployment of ambulances on highways to reduce accident deaths

The DGP directed district SPs to take firm action against reckless drivers and ensure that ordinary citizens do not fall victim to preventable road mishaps.

Khurania emphasized that road safety is a shared responsibility of police, transport officers, and local administrations. He asked officials to work together to identify accident-prone zones, strengthen patrol units, and run sustained awareness campaigns.

The meeting was attended by Additional DGP (Coastal & Railway Security) Arun Bothra, Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur, and Additional DGP (Headquarters) Prateek Mohanty, along with officials from the State Transport Authority.

Senior police officers including IG (Central Range) S Praveen Kumar, IG (Southern Range) Neeti Sekhar, DIG (Eastern Range) Dr. Satyajit Nayak, DIG (Western Range) Brijesh Kumar Rai, and all district SPs also joined through virtual mode.

The DGP underlined that road safety cannot rely on enforcement alone. He urged citizens, schools, and community organizations to adopt safe driving practices and help the state reduce its accident death rate.