Rs 29 cr for road safety

Deepender Deswal

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Tribune News Service

Hisar, January 5

Facing flak for digging up roads to stop protesting farmers marching towards Delhi in November last year, the state government has allocated Rs 29.55 crore to ensure road safety for the 2020-21 fiscal.

Sources say the regulatory wing of the Transport Department has allocated the budget to six departments. The funds were allocated following a meeting of the fund management committee of the department held on August 31, 2020.

Of the total budget, Rs 10.85 crore has been allocated to the Police Department, while the Road Transport Authority (RTA) of each district has been allocated Rs 20 lakh. As there are 22 districts in the state, this amounts to Rs 4.40 crore.

The Public Works Department (Buildings and Roads) has been given Rs 5.50 crore, while the Elementary Education Department has received Rs 5.60 crore. The Health Department and the Higher Education Department have been allocated Rs 2.20 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively.

In a meeting of the district road safety committee held last month, issues such as construction of speed breakers, congestion on roads, the stray cattle menace on national highways, potholes, lack of visibility, broken railings, illegal cuts, uncovered drainage and lack of signboards were taken up. The departments were directed to take remedial measures under the Road Safety Rules.

Hisar SP Balwan Singh Rana said the police were taking measures as per the Haryana Road Safety Fund Rules, 2018, and had assigned DSP Abhimanyu for the task.