30 km/h zones or lower where people walk, bike, live, and play, are a key tool for making roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. In India, a national federal mandate exists for 25 km/h limits around schools. However, responsibility for implementing the mandate lies with state-level authorities, many of whom were not aware that it existed. In Punjab, a coalition of Alliance member NGOs, led by Avoid Accident and including People’s Trust Jaipur and Patiala Foundation, working through the Alliance Incubator program, has been advocating with the Government of Punjab to implement the law around the all schools in state of Punjab In 2022, the Governor of Punjab issued a notification that the 25 km/h mandate should be implemented across the state, so the coalition turned their advocacy to making sure the notification would be put into action. Read more HERE.
Last month, a further milestone in the advocacy journey to implementation of 25 km/h zones around schools was achieved. The Avoid Accident presented and followed up the memo that had been issued in October 2022 by the Director General of the lead agency for road safety Punjab to each of the road owning agencies. The main agency with responsibility for all link roads across Punjab, the Mandi Board, responded that, after consulting with its expert committee, it has approved a budget of more than 1 billion rupees (around US$16 million) for rumble strips and all mandatory, cautionary signage around all school zones on link roads.
