IIT Roorkee CTRANS organised the 1st Dr. L.R. Kadiyali Memorial Lecture on 12 November. Distinguished Professor P.K. Sikdar, Advisor, International Road Federation (India Chapter) delivered the lecture on ‘Road Safety Management – A National Priority.’

Centre for Transportation Systems (CTRANS) is located at IIT Roorkee and is a Centre of Excellence of IIT Roorkee in the area of Transportation Systems.

This centre located at IIT Roorkee aims to evolve a holistic approach for study of transport systems.

The aim of CTRANS of IIT Roorkee is also to promote multidisciplinary research and education for manpower development in transportation systems encompassing all modes of transport such as Road Transport, Rail Transport, Inland Water Transport, Air Transportation, Pipeline Transport.

The lecture at IIT Roorkee included topics related to how India is having the dubious distinction in the world with the highest road fatalities in a year, which is nearly 11% of all road deaths in the world.

It also focused on how road safety management is the first and fundamental pillar of the global plan for improving road safety performance by systematic and planned approach.

UN General Assembly has approved the Second Decade of Action to reduce the global road fatalities and serious injuries by 50% by 2030, aligning the target with sustainable development goals.

Delivering the lecture at IIT Roorkee, Professor Sikdar said those countries, which have been able to show positive results in road safety outcomes, have managed it by a structured and multi-sectoral action plan implemented under strict guidelines and a highly coordinated format.

No independent and isolated action has ever produced sustainable results in road safety improvement, he said delivering the lecture at IIT Roorkee.

He further said that globally proven and accepted ‘safe system approach’ can provide a comprehensive and logical action for deriving maximum benefit.

‘Of course, to have such a framework implemented in a coordinated way, the institutional management role must be derived from the management capacity by focusing actions on multiple fronts as well as on targeted results,’ said Professor Sikdar delivering the lecture at IIT Roorkee.

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Professor Sikdar also said a road safety management framework has already been developed, which identifies effective ways and elements of management that are crucial for improving road safety performance in a country or region.

Thus, safety is produced just like any other goods and services and a management system is required at three levels: the institutional management responsible to plan and design interventions, which in turn produce the desired results, he said delivering lecture at IIT Roorkee.

Professor M. Parida, Deputy Director of IIT Roorkee said the ideas shared by Professor Sikdar not only resonate with the belief behind Dr. L. R. Kadiyali Memorial Lecture Series but also give a concept for the future programs for Road Safety Management in India.

It is time for the country to seriously focus on the adoption of advanced technologies and multidimensional approaches to mitigate road accidents, said Deputy Director of IIT Roorkee.

About Dr. L. R. Kadiyali Memorial Lecture Series
The memorial lecture series is named after Dr. L.R. Kadiyali, a very well-known personality in the field of Transportation.

He earned a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in India and has accumulated more than forty years of experience in Highway Engineering, including approximately 30 years in the service of the India Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, where he dealt with the planning, improvement and maintenance of the country’s National Highway system.

About IIT Roorkee

IIT Roorkee is an institute of national importance imparting higher education in engineering, sciences, management, architecture and planning, and humanities and social sciences.

Since its establishment in 1847, IIT Roorkee has played a vital role in providing technical human resources and know-how to the country.

This is among those institutions that has reached great heights in the field of higher education. Excellence has become a norm here long ago.

The vision of this institution is to attain global level of excellence in education and to create a sustainable and equitable society through innovative research in science and technology.

Pooja Singh

(Full bio)