Trichy: While the Trichy City police offcials are hell-bent on catching helmetless riders and turning a blind eye towards other traffic offences, the Road Safety Council, supposed to be a driving force in ensuring the safety of commuters on city roads, has been remaining in deep slumber for long. Constituted around 11 years ago with members from all stakeholder departments and consumer organisations, the body’s performance is being questioned by public and road safety activists alike since the council had shown scant regard for implementing road safety suggestions discussed at its meetings.The city, with 167.23 square kilometre area comprising 65 wards, is governed by 14 police stations. Given the limited area, the city could have been a role model for the state in implementing the road safety protocol, but Trichy roads stagger to ensure the safety of road users. Constituted in 2007 as per the instructions of the state government, the Road Safety Council was to reduce road accidents and give suggestions to the government on public safety. Chronic issues such as traffic snarls due to haphazard parking, poor safety infrastructure, and bad roads have forced people and social activists to raise a pertinent question about the very existence of the Road Safety Council. "Traffic congestion due to poor planning and implementation of road safety parameters are still common problems in the city. So, what did the Road Safety Council achieve in its decade-long existence?" asked N Ramakrishnan, founding secretary of MGR Nalpani Mandram.Though the Road Safety Council reportedly meets once a month, mostly privy to its members, a concrete solution to issues such as encroachments on the arterial roads and streamlining of the congested roads has always been missing. "Many wider roads including Rockins Road dotted with eateries require medians," said M Muthuganesan, member, Trichy Intra-City Development Endeavours (TIDES).Traffic snarls are common sights in Salai Road, Thillai Nagar Main Road, Sasthri Road, and Williams Road since cars and bikes are parked on the roads as commercial establishments lag dedicated parking space. As demands from social activists and public to revamp the Road Safety Council grow louder, M Sekaran, a long-serving member of the council said, "City police should come forward and work closely with the council to bring a permanent solution to traffic congestion," Sekaran opined.Scant support from city police was cited as one of the reasons for the failure to find solutions. Though the district collectors had always attended the council meetings, city police commissioners most of the times have skipped it, sources said. When contacted, district collector K Rajamani said, "The issues that were discussed in previous meetings and pending implementation are being taken up in the recurring meetings."

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