Raipur: Senior IPS officer Prashant Agrawal is known for conducting policing differently. He brings in a lot of innovations and local touch to make policing a collective pursuit, and not just the forte or concern of men in khaki. A case in point is 'Suno Raipur,' which aims at making people aware of road safety and traffic norms so that accidents are minimized and precious lives are saved!
“Suno Raipur is a multi-stakeholder initiative. I firmly believe that the police cannot do everything on its own but we can bring in remarkable changes if our efforts are supplemented by other stakeholders. 'Suno Raipur' is a week-long exercise, which will end on January 1. The idea is to inculcate the habit of sane driving among people,” said Agrawal while talking to Bureaucrats India.

The initiative assumes significance in view of the fact that road accidents claim at least 1.50 lakh lives in India annually, while in Raipur over 450 people lose their lives in road accidents. “The most common reason behind almost every road accident is careless driving and violating traffic norms. During the ‘Suno Raipur’ campaign, young volunteers along with Raipur Police personnel will share safety tips with commuters at different public places,” added Agrawal.

“I want the residents of Raipur to adopt traffic safety as their New Year resolution,” said the SSP, adding that the campaign is being supported by Raipur Auto Dealers Association, Young Indians, Surakshit Bhav Foundation, Sikh Care India, Abhash Foundation, Awaj Foundation, Sparsh- Ek Koshish, Helping Hand Foundation, Aas Ek Prayas, Sparsh Automobile, Maruti Suzuki Driving School, Pranjal Sewa Samiti, Kopal Vani, Mission Sambhav, Vakta Manch and Saubhagya Foundation.

Expressing happiness over the response from different stakeholders, Agrawal said: “It is so heartening indeed to see so many organizations coming together to make Suno Raipur a grand success. Without people’s participation, we cannot achieve bigger goals like sensitizing people about road safety and the importance of following traffic norms in one’s life.” /BI/