Jammu, Jan 22: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo today while assessing the implementation of road safety measures as recommended by the Supreme Court underscored the need for extensive use of GIS-based data to identify vulnerable and accident-prone road stretches across districts.
He emphasized that such data-driven identification would enable focused technological and physical interventions to significantly reduce road accidents in the UT.

The meeting was attended by Administrative Secretaries of concerned departments, senior officers of the Traffic Police, and Heads of Departments, while Deputy Commissioners participated through video conferencing from their respective districts.

The Chief Secretary sought a detailed account of the Supreme Court directions on road safety and the status of compliance by the concerned departments. He stressed that a clear-cut and time-bound roadmap for implementation of each directive must be prepared without delay.

He called for leveraging available transport and traffic data to guide interventions such as targeted safety measures, strategic deployment of traffic police, and engineering corrections on road patches identified for frequent accidents.

Emphasizing deterrence as a key component of road safety, the Chief Secretary directed the authorities to strictly enforce punitive measures against habitual and serious traffic violators. These include cancellation of driving licences, registration certificates, and other statutory actions against offenders involved in rash driving and non-compliance with traffic rules.

The Chief Secretary also took stock of the road accident scenario in Jammu and Kashmir based on data available on the i-RAD portal. He reviewed accident trends with respect to time of day, monthly patterns, district-wise distribution, classification of roads, and the nature of traffic violations leading to such mishaps.

During the meeting, road construction agencies including PWD, NHAI, NHIDCL, BRO and SAMPARK were asked to brief the meeting on steps taken for removal of identified black spots in accordance with the Black Spot Protocol. The Chief Secretary also reviewed measures related to traffic calming, installation of safety signage, and fitting of speed-limiting devices in school buses to ensure student safety.

Secretary, Transport Department, Avny Lavasa made a detailed presentation on the functioning of the i-RAD and e-DAR portals in the Union Territory. She informed that since the operationalisation of the i-RAD portal in June 2022, a total of 20,135 road accidents involving 32,819 persons have been reported in J&K. These accidents resulted in 3,688 fatalities and 29,131grievous or minor injuries too.

It was further informed that the majority of accidents occur on major highways, particularly in the districts of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur and Rajouri. Data analysis revealed that most accidents took place between 3:00 pm and 9:00 pm, with rash driving and over-speeding accounting for nearly 50 percent of road mishaps reported during 2025.

The Transport Department also shared enforcement statistics, stating that 40,197 challans were issued in 2024 and 52,543 challans in 2025, amounting to fines of Rs 10.15 Cr and Rs 15.88 Cr respectively. Major violations included non-wearing of helmets, driving without seat belts, use of mobile phone while driving, over-speeding, and jumping of red lights. In 2025 alone, 1,528 vehicles were seized, 1,641 driving licences suspended, 10,439 vehicles blacklisted, 1,192 registration certificates cancelled, and 300 route permits revoked.

In this meeting the IGP Traffic, M. Suleman apprised about the functioning of surveillance cameras installed under the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) and traffic signal cameras under the Intelligent Light Traffic System (ILTS) at major junctions in Jammu and Srinagar.

He informed that the Traffic Police enforced 12,36,380 e-challans in 2023, 15,03,901 in 2024 and 14,92,591 in 2025, imposing fines of Rs 85.16 Cr, Rs 120.09 Cr and Rs 145.12 Cr respectively. He further added that 15,947 vehicles were seized during 2025 for various violations of the Motor Vehicles Act.

The meeting also reviewed the implementation of the Road Accident Victim Fund, establishment of trauma care facilities along highways, and the functioning of the Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR) at Kot Bhalwal and the Inspection and Certification Centre (ICC) at Samba. The performance of the District Infrastructure Quality Control (DIQC) mechanism in conducting road safety audits across districts was also assessed.

The Chief Secretary reiterated the government’s commitment to reducing road accidents through coordinated enforcement, engineering solutions, public awareness, and strict adherence to judicial and statutory road safety norms for saving the precious lives of the people here in J&K.

Bhaderwah/Jammu, Jan 22: Four Army personnel were killed and nine others injured when their vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said.

The accident took place at Khanni top along Bhaderwah-Chamba interstate road.

Officials said the bullet-proof Army vehicle, carrying a total of 17 personnel, was heading towards a high altitude post when its driver lost control and the vehicle plunged into a 200-foot-deep gorge.

A joint rescue operation by army and police was immediately launched and four of the soldiers were found dead, the officials said.

They said nine other soldiers were rescued in an injured condition and three of them, who have suffered critical injuries, were airlifted to Udhampur military hospital for specialised treatment.

Jammu, Jan 22: A fresh encounter broke out between security forces and holed up terrorists during the ongoing search operation in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Thursday, officials said.

The operation was launched in Sonnar village near Mandral-Singhpora in Chatroo belt on Sunday, leading to a gunfight that left one paratrooper dead and seven other soldiers injured.

A fresh contact was established with the holed up terrorists in the dense forests of Singhpora this morning, the officials said.

They said heavy firing between the two sides was going on when last reports were received and efforts are on to neutralise the terrorists operating in the area.

A major terrorist hideout was unearthed near the scene of the encounter on Monday and several individuals were picked up for questioning, the officials said.

A group of two to three terrorists allegedly affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) are believed to be trapped in the encounter, officials said.