Hyderabad, July 24 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday directed officials to establish a dedicated bureau for traffic management and road safety in the state.
He stated that a comprehensive study of the transportation system should be conducted, and the bureau for traffic management and road safety should have an institutional structure.
The Chief Minister reviewed traffic management and road safety in Telangana with senior officials.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), he instructed officials to conduct reviews every 2 or 3 months on the measures to be taken for traffic streamlining.
He told officials that merely enforcing regulations is not the solution to traffic issues; instead, greater emphasis should be placed on traffic management and streamlining. They were asked to devise traffic management plans that take into account weather conditions, work schedules, and peak traffic hours.
It was emphasised that necessary studies regarding traffic management should be conducted before creating new infrastructure. The Chief Minister noted that a significant number of accidents occur due to vehicles stopping on the Outer Ring Road (ORR), citing recent accidents as examples.
He directed officials to implement preventive measures and ensure continuous monitoring to stop vehicles from parking haphazardly on the ORR.
He observed that traffic congestion is worsening in the core urban region because motorists frequently have to stop at closely spaced traffic signals. He called for the construction of underpasses and elevated corridors wherever necessary to create a signal-free traffic system in the city. He advised ensuring continuous vehicle movement at signals to prevent traffic stagnation as much as possible and ordered officials to study the implementation of a smart signalling system.
At another review meeting, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy instructed officials to take strict action for drug control in the state.
Stating that the government is taking the issue of drug control seriously, he called for implementation of stringent regulations to crack down on the drug menace.
The Chief Minister directed that educational institutions be held accountable for drug control, suggesting that declarations be obtained from students and that managements be made responsible.
He suggested that principals of respective schools and colleges be held liable for drug-related issues in government educational institutions. He asked officials to consider framing rules that would make the management responsible for any drug-related incident occurring within the campus.
The Chief Minister also instructed officials to establish a system to identify and report drug-related activities taking place outside the campuses.
He ordered measures to ensure that managements set up special units to monitor and detect changes in student behaviour.
The CM suggested exploring the installation of toll-free numbers and dedicated QR codes within educational premises to facilitate the reporting of drug-related information.
He outlined a three-stage approach for drug prevention in educational institutions: first, identifying drug users and helping them overcome their addiction; and second, punishing those who supply drugs.
Officials were instructed to send individuals caught using drugs for the first time to de-addiction centres and to consider imposing severe penalties on those caught repeatedly.
The Chief Minister also directed officials to examine the possibility of enacting new legislation to deal strictly with the drugs menace.
–IANS
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