Udupi : Udupi district Superintendent of Police (SP) Annamalai said the department has initiated extensive patrolling on the national highways. 

He was addressing the students at Madhav Pai Memorial College for the awareness programme, 'Save a life-Accidents and First Aid,' the SP said stringent measures are taken to curtail the increasing number of accidents. He said the highway patrolling would cover the NH extending from Shiroor to Hejamadi and from Perdur to Karkala. The vehicles belonging to the drivers who are charged for drunken, rash and negligent driving would be seized, he added.

He said Operation Suraksha which was introduced to curtail the accidents from July 18 would be on trial run for one month. On July 18, the number of cases reported is 831 and on July 19 it was 1,122. The vehicles that are seized would be released only after the driver undergoes the counseling session at the department. 

He said that if the experiment proves to be successful, measures would be taken to extend the programme. Asserting that many number of people die in road accidents,  the SP said that at least four lakh accidents take place every year in India, where 1.7 lakh deaths are reported.

 Annamalai said the engineering works are faulty and Indian roads are not safe for driving or riding. Lack of enforcements and emergency care are the causes for deaths.

He also added that lack of precautionary measures and not following the preventive measures have emerged out as the main reasons for the accident deaths. He said that 50% accidents can be averted by avoiding rash and negligent driving and 20% accidents can be stopped by avoiding drunken driving.

Summarising the accident data in the district, Annamalai said that 331 people died in 2014. In 2015, the number of deaths had increased to 360 despite the stringent measures. In 2016, up to June, it has increased by 20% when compared to the last year's figure.