Moa Jamir
Irony was lost to everyone, most of all to State Chief Minister, when Nagaland launched the year-long road safety awareness campaign under the theme ‘Time for Action’ in Kohima on December 5. The campaign is a collaborative effort of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Transport Department of Nagaland.
"Road safety is becoming a matter of serious concern in today's fast moving world, where road transport has become an integral part of everyone's life," Chief Minister TR Zeliang said expressing optimism that the campaign would educate people on various road safety measures.
On his part, State Minister for Transport, Paiwang Konyak said urgent “attention was needed to improve road safety with a holistic approach.” Citing statistics, he held that accidents rate in Nagaland is low but rash driving, drinking and driving on poor quality roads account as the major cause of accidents in Nagaland.
A pertinent issue, no doubt, but one is bemused to witness such glorious declaration by those at the helms of the affairs, as barring a few stretches in the state, the roads itself are non-existent in Nagaland. It is no longer potholes, but craters in guise of roads - a muddy affair in summer and a dusty trail in winter. In such a scenario, any other concern is secondary. Thus, one is not particularly elated by seeing the low statistics of accidents because it is obvious it is not due to other factors, but the conditions of the roads.
In a fast moving world, as the Chief Minister rightly pointed out, a good road is integral for enabling not only conveyance but also economic growth and development. Devoid of such opportunity, our road is crawling at best, and a ride is a bumpy adventure for everyone concerned. A ‘lipsticking’ here and there to serve an immediate temporary concern does not do anyone good.
Conversely, it can be safely argued that when a driver is more concerned about personal safety navigating a debilitating road, other issues become secondary. Is this the reason why road etiquette in Nagaland is sorely missing among the drivers? According to Global Road Safety Partnership, a road safety publicity campaign is part of a set of activities that aim to promote safe road use with three types of campaign: To raise awareness of an issue or to inform; To change attitudes; and To change behavior, as part of a package of measures.
Research have also shown that campaigns on road safety work best when combined with other interventions, such as enforcement of traffic laws and regulations, or provision of other safety services and products.
We can include a better road as the most imperative intervention in Nagaland. For as stated earlier, when your immediate concern is about surviving the road itself, other concerns are just secondary. In this context, why not a ‘Time for Action’ on building roads – a yearlong initiative pertinently targeted at making the roads motorable first, before undertaking any other grand scheme. A concerted effort on this will go a long way in enabling other successful campaigns.
