IIT Roorkee organises first Dr LR Kadiyali Memorial Lecture on road safety management

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

The Centre for Transportation Systems of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee organised the first Dr LR Kadiyali Memorial Lecture on Friday (November 12, 2021). PK Sikdar, advisor, International Road Federation (India Chapter) delivered the lecture on ‘Road Safety Management – A National Priority’. 

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

PK Sikdar said, “The countries that 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.” 

“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”, Sikdar said. 

Sikdar, who is also an expert for research and R&D management for road and road transport sector, including highway planning and management, for more than four decades, 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.” 

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

Dr LR Kadiyali Memorial Lecture Series 

The memorial lecture series is named after Dr LR Kadiyali, a noted personality in the field of transportation. He earned a PhD in Civil Engineering in India and has accumulated more than 40 years of experience in highway engineering, including approximately 30 years in the service of the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, where he dealt with the planning, improvement and maintenance of the country’s National Highway system. 

Read more: 

• NIT Warangal issues important notice for MSc, MBA, MCA students 
• JEE Advanced candidates seeking extra attempt receive support on social media 
• BTech vs BSc - Which is a better career option after Class 12?