Chandigarh, Mar 11 (IANS): The UN Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety has appreciated the initiative launched by the Haryana Police for reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by road accidents on the Sonipat-Ambala National Highway 44.

Under this initiative, the police have fixed the target of reducing the number of road accidents and deaths on the 187-km stretch passing through Haryana by 33 per cent in the current year.

In this context, Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Yadava addressed a webinar of UN Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety wherein he highlighted the various components of this initiative.

He mentioned that in 2018, 743 people had died due to road accidents on this stretch, which is more than the total number of deaths in the entire Netherlands and the UAE during that year.

He explained that the police had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) for carrying out road safety audits of every kilometre of the highway passing through Haryana.

The road engineering related improvements suggested by the IRTE will be implemented by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) as part of the special understanding by the police and the state department of transport.

Since a large number of road fatalities involves pedestrians and cyclists, the police along with the other stakeholder authorities will create underpasses and foot overbridges at points where large number of pedestrians cross the road, particularly at the busy points in Sonipat and Panipat districts.