By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 31 Mar: The UPES Student Welfare Department has organised a week-long Road Safety Campaign starting from 28 March keeping in mind the safety of students. The department invited Raghvendra Kumar, popularly known as the Helmet Man of India, and Akshay Konde, the Superintendent of Police (Traffic) to interact with the students, faculty and staff members.
Kumar shared how he lost a friend to a road accident, as he was not wearing a helmet, and emphasised the importance of following traffic rules and driving safely. He said, “Deaths due to two-wheeler road accidents have increased in India, most of which are due to head injuries. Wearing helmets is still not considered necessary, which makes such awareness campaigns imperative, especially among the young generation.”
This was followed by a short play in both the UPES campuses at Bidholi and Kandoli, respectively.
Student volunteers, members of the UPES Student Welfare Department and traffic police personnel were present at the Prem Nagar police station, at various locations along the 9 km route between Nanda ki Chowki and the UPES Bidholi campus, and at the parking lot of both the campuses. Defaulters were stopped by the volunteers and provided counselling on traffic rules and the importance of driving in a disciplined manner. The Helmet Man also gifted free helmets to them.
Post the two-day campaign, the traffic police will start issuing challans to the drivers breaking traffic rules. Furthermore, they will also not be allowed into the parking lot.
Dr Sunil Rai, VC, UPES, said, “Road accidents remain among the biggest killers of youngsters aged between 5 and 25. This makes road education among students very critical. Our faculty members have been requested to regularly show students short videos on road safety and engage with them on the subject.”
Dr Nishant Mishra, Dean of Student Welfare & Professor, added, “No family should go through the pain of losing a loved one, just because road safety aspects were neglected. We hope to make an impact on the overall thinking of people when it comes to road safety. We will monitor results to see if we attain our ambition of ‘zero accidents.”
The initiative was supported by the local administration, authorities, private hostel owners in the vicinity, and the representatives of nearby universities and colleges.
