Ahmedabad, January 21, 2025: In a bid to make Gujarat’s roads safer, a multi-stakeholder workshop on the State Road Safety Action Plan (SRSAP) was organized at the Center for Environment Education (CEE), Ahmedabad. Themed “Together for Safer Roads: Towards Achieving Gujarat’s Target of 50% Reduction in Road Crash Fatalities by 2030,” the workshop was hosted by CEE and The Urban Lab (TUL) Foundation in collaboration with the Gujarat Road Safety Authority (GujRoSA).

The event saw active participation from key state departments, including Roads & Bridges, Ports & Transport, State Traffic Branch, Health, Urban Development, and Education. Officials from emergency response services (EMRI 108), regional transport offices of major cities like Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Morbi, and Vadodara, along with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), were also present. NGOs, academic institutions, and citizen groups such as UNICEF, NID, ATCC, and JP Research India (JPRI) contributed to the deliberations.

Experts Weigh In

Speaking on Road Safety initiatives in Punjab, Dr Navdeep Asija, Director of the Punjab Road Safety and Traffic Research Centre, emphasized the importance of creating forgiving roads. He said, “Roads should not be punishing in nature but forgiving for road users. Data-driven interventions, decentralized actions, and a blend of theoretical, cultural, and technical inputs are vital to reduce road fatalities effectively,”

Speaking on the process behind Rajasthan’s Road Safety Action Plan, Nidhi Singh, Additional Transport Commissioner (Road Safety), Government of Rajasthan, said, “Our plan was crafted through collaborative workshops and departmental interactions, with final approvals and signed commitments ensuring ownership and functionality.”

On quick results on road fatalities, Atul Singh, from IIT Madras’s Centre for Excellence for Road Safety, highlighted the role of data intelligence in crafting effective strategies. He said, “Focusing on helmet enforcement and two-wheeler safety can yield quick and significant results,”

Keynote Highlights

The event was inaugurated by Kartikeya Sarabhai, Director of CEE, who urged academic institutions to play a larger role in road safety research. “Universities can foster impactful research by involving students in projects that generate actionable data and insights,” he said.

Anupam Anand, IAS, Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety, stressed the need for collaboration. “Effective coordination among government bodies, academia, and civil society organizations is crucial for a comprehensive action plan,” he noted, reaffirming Gujarat’s commitment to road safety.

Shaping the Future

Participants shared valuable inputs for shaping the SRSAP, with a focus on critical risk factors like speeding. Sanket Patel, Chief Enforcement Officer of GujRoSA, announced that follow-up workshops would address specific issues in the coming months. “These insights will form the backbone of Gujarat’s road safety strategy,” he added.

This initiative represents a crucial step toward achieving the state’s ambitious goal of halving road crash fatalities by 2030. Stakeholders expressed optimism about the collaborative effort’s potential to save lives and create safer roads across Gujarat.