Challan open vehicles carrying iron rods: Safety panel

The District Road Safety Committee, which held its meeting a day after the gruesome accident in which iron rods had pierced through the necks of two car-borne youths, leading to their death, took a serious note of it.

Members of the committee stressed that materials like iron rods and water supply pipes must be allowed to be loaded and ferried only in trucks. "Any open vehicle used for the purpose must be heavily challaned so that the dangerous trend gets discouraged", proposed Surinder Saini, a member of the committee.

The issue of overloaded school buses and trucks filled with paddy straw too were raised at the meeting. The members also raised the issue in delay in the implementation of the e-challan system in the city. Traffic police teams reported that CCTV wires were being snapped at various points by some mischievous persons at Alaska Chowk. The issue of re-painting missing zebra crossings too was taken up with the MC officials.

The administration identified 56 blackspots across the district and initiated immediate corrective measures to prevent road mishaps. DC Himanshu Aggarwal directed all departments to fix these accident-prone zones within a week and install warning display boards to alert commuters until permanent solutions are implemented.

The DC said the identified blackspots include 24 in Jalandhar-I, 11 in Jalandhar-II, nine in Shahkot, eight in Nakodar, three in Phillaur, and one in Adampur subdivisions. These spots were marked after a detailed, multi-departmental survey analysing accident data collected over several months.

The administration also approved the installation of new traffic lights at the busy Kishangarh Chowk on the national highway, a major accident-prone junction. The project will be executed at a cost of Rs 12.86 lakh to ensure smooth traffic movement and minimise collisions caused by converging vehicles.

Aggarwal also reviewed measures to decongest traffic at Bhogpur, Adampur, and Focal Point areas, directing the police to crack down on unauthorised parking along highways, particularly during the ongoing festive season. The NHAI has been instructed to install blinkers and reflectors where service lanes merge with main highways.

Additionally, the DC ordered the Traffic Police to survey the functioning of all traffic lights and submit a report by October 27. He also advised the Education Department and Traffic Police to stagger school timings by 10–15 minutes to prevent congestion near institutions during peak hours.

It was also informed by the NHAI that a comprehensive project worth Rs 93 crore for the repair and relaying of the road stretch from Bidhipur Chowk to Phagwara has been submitted to the headquarters for the final approval. The proposal also includes the construction of an additional lane on the PAP flyover, aimed at easing vehicular movement and addressing the issue of frequent traffic bottlenecks along this busy route.

The meeting was attended by ADCs Jasbir Singh and Amaninder Kaur, RTO Amanpal Singh, and members of the District Road Safety Committee along with representatives of various departments.