West Bengal government has given the transport department Rs 50 crore to improve the traffic system and install CCTVs at vital points of the state to cut down on the number of road accidents.
Informing this in the Assembly, state Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikary said, "Each district has been given Rs 45 lakh and the commissionerates got Rs one crore each for setting up CCTVs at crucial junctions."
Kolkata Police have been given Rs six crore for the same purpose, he said during the question hour.
Accidents in the state have come down, though marginally, and the department has decided to take strict measures to check road mishaps in districts, Adhikari said.
The DMs and SPs have been asked to take a note of accident prone zones in districts and forward the same to the department for taking measures.
He said that the department has managed to revive a bit from the financial crunch it had been going through since the regime of erstwhile Left Front government.
"There have been serious financial loss for the department. But with the smart and professional way of collecting fares, our revenue has gone up a bit now," he said.
The department was also planning to introduce electric buses for Rajarhat, New Town and Salt Lake shortly.
Adhikary said that the department has also taken up the job of renovation of around 68 ghats.
"We have alloted Rs 10 lakh for each ghat for renovation purpose and work has been started," he said adding that the department was also planning to introduce water-ambulance in Sunderban areas.
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"We are also introducing Jatribandhab website which will give all route/fare charts and this was aimed at giving all the required information about routes and vehicle in a transparent and spontaneous manner," Bandyopadhyay said.
"We aim to gradually bring private sector transport - buses, taxis, auto-rickshaws under the purview and I believe with 9/10th of the total bus services run by private operators they will see the utility of the service and opt for the system," he said.
The transport team had visited London earlier to know the nitty gritty of the integrated transport system there and Incorporated the suggestions of the authorities there.
To a question, Bandyopadhyay said they would also request Railways to extend the smart card facility in the metro railways fleet in Kolkata.
Adhikary said, "We are happy to implement the three-pronged scheme in this financial year itself.
