Hyderabad: Cyberabad Traffic Police (CTP) have become model police for their Road Safety for their timely and innovative initiatives said Mr VC Sajjanar, Police Commissioner, Cyberabad Police while speaking at the 2nd awards presentation function of Short Film Contest on “Pedestrian Safety”, an initiative of Cyberbad Traffic Police, SCSC(Society for Cyberabad Security Council) and Cyberabad Police here in the city on Thursday night
The contest which is a half yearly affair was the second in the series. It had the theme “Pedestrian Safety”. The contest attracted 68 entries, mostly comprised of students, youth, employees, families.
Ram Kiran Reddy for his film ‘The Right Way’, Nitish Singh ‘Another Chance’ and Prashanth Rathod ‘The Crowd’ emerged first three winners and walked away with Rs 50,000/-, 30,000/- and 20,000/- prize money respectively.
The next 7 best participants were given away appreciation certificates and Rs 5000/- each prize money.
All the first ten short films) were screened on the occasion. The contestants were supposed to short films on Pedestrian Safety for not more than 2 minutes.
Rest of the 58 were given away participation certificates.
Some of the key messages given in the short films are:
You are a zero, not a hero if you break the traffic rules said T, Kalyan. Manojit Reddy said, ‘life doenst have rewind button, better be careful’. Walk for life. Safety begins at home, Divyasree gave message in her film. Life is not just yours. There is a family depends on you. It is not fair to leave them behind conveyed Teja Chowdary in the film. Foot path is for pedestrians and Road is for vehicles. The problem arises when both collide said Jakkula Samanvita in the film titled ‘That Moment”.
Road Safety concerns all. It appeals to everyone and it is the responsibility of every citizen. The response to the contest, the second in the serieswas very good and the creative standards were on par with the best said Police Commissioner Mr VC Sajjanar. And added that the contest drew very good respone. 68 people of creative bent have participated in the contest. And they have come from different parts of the state. The announcement of results was delayed due to the ongoing pandemic, he said.
184 people out of 725 road accident deaths occurred in the Cyberabad in the year 2020 are pedestrians, which amounts to nearly 25%. Though the accident deaths have come down by 30% due to Covid, but, we must reduce more road fatalities. People die in accidents due to indiscipline, carelessness and lack of awareness, the Police Officer said.
The Traffic Police of Cyberabad have become a model police for their timely and innovative initiatives, he said. Commissioner of Police listed out various measures taken up by the police to reduce road accidents and deaths.
Mr. Sajjanar wanted the half yearly contest to spread nook and corners of the state and beyond. He wants to see more response for the 3rd contest in the series which will be announced in February 2021 with a different theme. We will increase price money, if the need he announced.
Mr, VC Sajjanar also appealed to the film industry to use their talent pool and skill set to make use Road Safety as a subject line in their upcoming films and also make some awareness films for public safety.
Speaking on the occasion DCP Mr. Vijay Kumar said every year 1,50,000 die in road accidents. And 30 per cent of them are pedestrians,. The pedestrians must be given more priority. People are supposed to walk and move around. But, unnatural modes of transportation killing the people. Pedestrians are the second most vulnerable group to die in road accidents. The USA woke up in the 1970 and we have woken up in 2020. Through these initiatives and creative short films we only expect that people become more aware.
Mr. Krishna Yedula, Secretary of SCSC said road safety is not just the responsibility of any one set of people, organization or department. It is the combined responsibility of every one. SCSC has been working on various initiatives for the past 14 years, he said. The contest is an excellent platform to promote the cause creatively, generate more awareness. The story telling through short video films will have greater impact he said.
The Jury member Mr Shantikumar, the award winning film director and director of IT MNC said, awareness and alertness are two most important things of safety. If you are alert today, you will be alive tomorrow he said.
Mr. Venkat Tankasala, Jt Secretary of Traffic Forum of SCSC described all the participants as ‘change agents’.