In a bid to curb road accident fatalities, the Odisha Commerce and Transport Department has launched the ‘Zero Fatality Week’ campaign, enforcing strict measures against reckless drivers and violators statewide.
Starting from November 16, the initiative has seen intensified enforcement by both the transport department and police administration, focusing on key safety rules to enhance road user protection.
Within the first four days, the transport department alone issued 12,155 e-challans, amounting to fines exceeding two crore rupees. Speeding emerged as the top violation, with 3,858 e-challans issued for overspeeding, a major contributor to accidents. Other significant infractions included 3,213 cases of riding two-wheelers without helmets and 2,921 instances of driving without seatbelts.
Additional violations addressed during the campaign encompass 498 cases of using mobile phones while driving, 135 instances of driving under the influence of intoxicants, 628 cases of overloading two-wheelers with more than two passengers, 236 wrong-side driving offences, and 666 illegal parking challans.
Regionally, Sundargarh RTO led with 1,180 challans, followed by Bhubaneswar-1 (840), Cuttack RTO (791), Talcher RTO (741), Bhadrak (719), Jagatsinghpur (632), Rayagada (555), Angul (520), Kalahandi (462), Jajpur (397), Ganjam (339), and Barbil ARTO (275).
Beyond enforcement, all Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) have rolled out extensive awareness programs to educate the public on road safety. The department urges citizens to always adhere to traffic rules, emphasising that collective compliance is key to reducing accidents and achieving zero fatalities.
