Accident prone areas identified

Vijayawada cops vow to make the city safe

• Special arrangements to be made for accident-free traffic in capital
• Dividers, barricades and traffic sign boards to be erected
• Expert team from Hyderabad to visit city on February 10 to study traffic movement

Krishna district administration, in association with the police and other departments, has decided to launch a special drive to make the city accident-free. The officials have identified 8 accident prone areas in the city and would take special care to prevent accidents in future. They have also initiated steps to divert the national highway traffic from the city.

The officials, at the traffic advisory council meeting held on Saturday, said that eight places were identified in the city where accidents occur frequently. This includes Ramavarappadu Ring, Netaji Bridge, Poranki Center, NTR Circle, Krishna Lanka Fire Station, Bandar Locks, Bus Stand and Sitammavari Padalu Center near Municipal Corporation Office.

The police said that accidents occur at these places very frequently and special care has to be taken to regulate flow of traffic to prevent mishaps. The meeting also decided to erect dividers, barricades and traffic sign boards at Netaji Bridge, Krishna Lanka Fire Station, Errakatta Pipeline, Chittinagar Tunnel, Bus Station and Gunadala Church area to regulate the flow of traffic.

District Collector Babu Ahmad informed the committee that an expert team from Hyderabad would visit the city on February 10 to study the traffic movement and advise the administration on traffic management. The Collector also directed the officials to ensure that the flyover at Ramavarapadu be completed at the earliest. This would help the police to divert the Hyderabad-Kolkata traffic from Chanumolu Venkatrao Bridge, Payakapuram and Ramavarappadu Ring.

The District Collector directed the irrigation officials to provide fencing on both sides of the canals to avoid accidents. He also directed the Municipal Corporation and the city police to work in coordination to ensure that the apartments and commercial complexes in the city use their own parking places.

“The encroachments on the roads too should be cleared and made available for the vehicles for free flow,” he said. “The District Collector also asked the officials to identify encroachments on roads, particularly at important junctions in the city and also in other places in the district. They should be cleared immediately to avoid traffic problems,” he added.

The officials informed the Collector that they have identified 143 accident-prone areas in the district of which 72 places were identified as more dangerous. The Collector asked the police to take special care at all these places and prevent accidents taking place there.

City Police Commissioner AB Venkateswara Rao, Municipal Commissioner G Veerapandian, Krishna district additional SP TV Nagaraju, deputy transport commissioner S Venkateswarlu, National Highways Authority of India officer K Madhusudhana Rao and others were present at the meeting. Later, the Collector and the city police commissioner released road safety campaign posters to create traffic awareness among the road users.