Sep 6, 2016

Safer Roads, Safer India “Classrooms with a Cause” Program is focused on enhancing road safety in India and has been conceptualized by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Youth Services America (YSA) together. TRAX is acting as the manager for the project.

Today, The Arundhati Foundation received a teaching grant under the aegis of this program to lead 25 volunteers below the age of 25 on a Road Safety Project. For a young foundation, it is an achievement and a moment of pride.

It has been exactly two years since the day Aru came home one last time before her accident..it’s a painful day. I would like to take this as a sign that Aru tells us that she is with us in spirit, guiding us on a mission of spreading awareness on Road safety .

Thank you, YSA and UL. Above all, Thank you, Aru.

The Arundhati Foundation is lucky to have so many well wishers. Today, I would like to Introduce Mr. Shanmugam to all of you.

Mr Shanmugam has a tailoring shop on Cambridge Road. He has donated five 25 litre empty water cans. We “modify” these water cans to make them into dustbins which we install on the roadside to collect dry waste. These cans draw inspiration from TERE BINS which we had installed as a part of launching of VIKRAM program last year. Unfortunately, the TERE BINS were stolen because these were re-enforced with metal rings and metal can be sold as scrap.

Mr Shanmugam can easily sell these empty cans for atleast rupees 50 a piece. Yet he chooses to give these cans to us so that we can use these to replace the TERE BINS. Contrast this behaviour with the well educated people working in offices in the commercial side of our building. These young folks not only smoke in public, but also throw burning cigarettes into these plastic bins. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that plastic burns. So each time a bin burns, Mr Shanmugam gives us a can.

Just goes to show that it is the attitude that matters and not just “education”
It also shows that one need not be rich an famous to support a good cause.

On behalf of the foundation we thank Mr Shanmugam for his generosity. It is people like you who make a difference!.

On 16 July, we did a session at Indo-US MIM, Dodaballapur.  It was extremely well organized.

Safety as a value is ingrained into the culture of the organization and they live it everyday on the shop floor. We urged them to extend the same to the roads.

We have reworked our presentation. A video from the Kolkata police has been added, the statistics are presented with more impactful graphics, the order of slides has been changed, and the presentation is more crisp now with the core message built around the 5 elements of the pledge.

We think it had some impact – and we were extremely touched by the gesture of the Indo-US MIM team who stood up and took the pledge along with us.

Thank you, Manoj Kabre (Vice President – Sales & Marketing at Indo-US MIM Tec Pvt. Ltd) – you have been a true friend of the Foundation, helping us spread the message.

And Thank you, Avinash, the designated Safety Officer,  for the efficient organization and the wonderful collage.

I had written a letter to the Hon Minister Shri Ramalinga Reddy with statistics, observations and suggestions regarding accidents pertaining to KSRTC and BMTC buses. I am grateful that the Hon Minister took time to go through it.

Sharing this reply with all friends of the foundation.

This letter was sent by the official concerned with the division which looks after accidents.
I am thankful to The Hon. Minister.
Thank you Sir

***

In continuation of your mail dated 25.05.2016 we deeply regret for the loss of invaluable life of your daughter at Vellore in a road accident on 9th September 2014. We are proud that a foundation has been started in the name of The Arundhathi Foundation (in memory of Dr Arundhati Sanjay Tambwekar).

​The following are the measures taken by KSRTC to prevent accidents and educate the crew.
a. Best vehicle maintenance practices are adopted to improve the safety aspects in operation of buses.
b. The selection process of drivers has been streamlined to ensure the selection of qualified and experienced drivers. Earlier the minimum qualification of drivers was 7th Std pass, whereas now, minimum qualification is 10th Pass.
c. The minimum age limit of drivers for the appointment in KSRTC has been raised from 21 to 24 years.
d. Electronic driver testing track is now used : extremely transparent system with more objective and no discursive, no role for manipulation, quicker than any other system. First of its kind in country. Driving test are video graphed.
e. The newly selected drivers are imparted necessary training about safe driving before sending them on schedule duties.
f. The drivers who have attained 40 years of age are made to undergo eye vision test once in every 2 years compulsorily.
g. Depots and line checking staff have been supplied with Breath-Analyzers to conduct surprise check on drivers.
h. Drug addict drivers are subjected to undergo de-addiction programme, which is a unique programme among State Transport Undertakings to avoid drunken driving.
i. To improve driving comfort buses are provided with ergonomically designed seats. To reduce driver-fatigue, power steering and synchromesh gearbox are being provided in the buses. The power steering avoids skidding of buses.
j. In mofussil services, the drivers with 5 years of accident and default free services are being awarded with Silver Medals and those with 15 years of accident and default free record are being awarded with Chief Minister’s Gold Medal, Cash reward and Cash Incentive every month.
k. For driver’s comforts upgraded crew rest rooms are provided at all the depots and major bus stands
l. For Night services & long distances routes are operated with fixed drivers and vehicles.
m. In order to refresh and to alert drivers between 01.00 am to 05.00 am for about 15-20 minitues rest is provided at 12 identified checkpoints in various sectors.
n. All type of vehicles are fitted the speed governor. Which are periodically checked by Divisional Mechanical Engineer.
o. Accident prone places are identified and same is displayed in the depots for the information of drivers.
p. The drivers found fully or partially responsible for fatal accidents are being placed under suspension immediately besides taking Disciplinary action.
q. The drivers with bad driving habits and accidents record are identified and deputed to the Drivers Training Institute for refresher courses regularly.
r. Action has been taken to display Emergency Exit signage’s inside the bus, the conductors have been advised to address the passengers about the usage of emergency door.
s. While booking crew for night service and long distance routes sufficient rest will be provided before sending them on next duty.
t. Only Senior skilled drivers who are imparted with rigorous training and qualified by Volvo Company are selected for operation of high end buses.
u. The Technical Staff maintaining Volvo buses have been well trained Volvo Company from time to time besides Volvo buses are maintained under supervision of Volvo Engineers.
v. Two fire Extinguishers are provided in Volvo buses for emergency fire hazards & the crew is trained to operate them
w. KSRTC buses are provided with emergency Doors/Exits for usage by passengers in case of emergency.
x. Information to the travelling public in Volvo buses regarding the operation of Emergency doors, First Aid Box, Roof Ventilator, Fire Extinguisher etc., which are provided in the bus. These information is also provided through video show at the beginning of the journey in the bus.
y. Banners are displayed in the major bus stations duly mentioned prohibiting carrying of explosives in the buses of the Corporation.
z. Road Safety day is be conducted once in every month.

I am pretty sure that each and every day in every city and town in India has at least one death in an accident. Sometimes a single day eats up the lives of many people. What is sad is that eighty percent of these deaths are totally preventable by the actions of people who drive these vehicles. Even the ones due to bad infrastructure like pot holes are preventable if the Govt, local bodies and public really care

It breaks my heart to read and see what is happening every single day. And everyday I re-live the death of my daughter.

In the horrific accident that happened on June 23, where eight young children died, three families lost both their children. The parents will most certainly go mad..I cannot begin to understand their pain.

This is a collective shame on us as a country and people. When is the govt going to bring in the road safety bill promised in 2014?

Yoga day is a great idea..When will we have the ‘ su yoga’ of having better roads? Better Road safety implementation ? When ? When?? When???

The above graphic is from The Hindu. To refer to the article in the paper, click here :
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/nearly-400-children-killed-in-road-accidents-in-state-last-year/article8762023.ece

JUNE 13, 2016

It was a pleasure to be of some help to the Ashoknagara Traffic Police.

A big Thank you to Mr Raju Naik for his sincere and earnest help rendered to all his colleagues. He was instrumental in seeing that 80 police personel got raincoats.

The simple , well organized and sincere gathering we had was so much in line with what Aru believed in..
It was a pleasure to interact with ACP CEntral Division Mr Nataraj and Inspector Mr. Mohd. Siraj. Mr Nataraj encouraged his troop to help accident victims even if it meant going beyond the call of duty. We would like to thank both of them for being around to encourage the personel and the foundation.

We will partner with the police station to see that the personel get a refreshers training in advanced first aid.
To Mala Shyam and Shyam Kokku, the twenty happy police personel you directly sponsored say a big Thank you..
Also Team @ Travel Zone OPH road Shivajinagar. Thank you for your help in sourcing the right kind of raincoats.

A couple of more pics here :

Potholes have reappeared on the Bangalore roads after brief rains. see link

The condition deteriorates pretty quickly if action is not taken. Bangalore is a regular witness to accidents due to potholes. Some that are acknowledged are noted here and there are many more that do not get recorded as such. The injuries are far more than the fatalities.

Please take a step to bring about the change that you want to see in Bangalore. Artist Baadal Nanjudawamiy uses his creativity to draw attention to the menace. The pictures above speak volumes about his good work.

For most of us, this is difficult. But we can do one simple thing.  Every one of us sees and experiences potholes on our paths – on the street where we live, on our way to work, on the way to our weekend recreation, and so on.   Use BBMP’s Sahaaya website, and log a complaint about the pothole that bothers you. Select Complaint category as Road Maintenance, and Complaint Type as Potholes.  Mark it using the map provided. It will take just 5 minutes.  It gets noted, it gets tracked.

Please do it! now! Go to bbmp.sahaaya.in

Today, the first Sunday of the month (3rd April 2016),  The Arundhati Foundation took up the activity of filling potholes on CAMBRIDGE ROAD. We planned to fill two of them – a big one right opposite St Meera’s School, and a small one near the Voltas shop.  We decided to start with the bigger one.

It  has been a a nightmarish experience for commuters to get past this one as the road leading to it is a narrow road, with a T -junction right in front of School. To add to it, there is a blind turn on the right side with the pot hole sitting pretty right there!

A resident who came up to us to say thanks told us that he has complained to BBMP but nothing has been done about it. It was nice to see people stopping and thanking us for taking this up.

We used 100 Kgs of Shelmac ( ready made cold  mix from Shell)  to fill this pot hole !  This should give a rough idea about the size of this one! It cost the foundation three thousand  rupees ( 3,000/-) to fill this pothole . But we feel satisfied that it might save precious lives of someone like our daughter.

We chose to focus on just the one pothole, and used up all the Shelmac that we had procured. We will tackle the second pothole another day, after we procure more material.

We were joined by our friends and volunteers of the foundation, Mr Ajit Bedekar, Ms Arati Bedeker and Mr Muthukumar. It’s always nice to have friends to give a helping hand and they are a source of emotional support to us  during such activities.  Thank you Arati, Ajit and Kumar!

         

27 Feb 2016 : The Drive Safely session on Road Safety was conducted at Indo-US MIM Tec Pvt Ltd at their Hoskote facility.

It was an engaging and interactive discussion with 50 engineers including safety officers. I guess the message did make impact. I am especially happy that Indo-US MIM plans to follow up with a separate session for their Dodaballapur plant, and also plans to put up posters on road safety in and around their premises.

Thanks to Mr Manoj Kabre (VP, Marketing) and Mr Bala Subramanian (CFO) for their support. And Mr Vijaydas (Safety Officer) for organizing the event.

A special thanks to Mr Manoj Kabre who has also spread the word amongst several friends and colleagues from other organizations. We hope to carry our message to their teams.

An anecdote from the event to share with you : The driver who picked us up from our residence that morning was Mr Prabhakar from Swift Travels. When we began our journey we told him to keep off his cellphone and avoid jumping any signals. His Hindi was very good, and so I asked him where he came from. He said “Varanasi”. He has come to Bangalore to become a better driver and learn English. Later he will go back to Varanasi, and hopes to have his own cab for tourists. We asked him to join our session. After the presentation, he expressed his sorrow for Aru’s accident, and promised he would always drive safely. He then asked me questions about “Blind Spots” and how to deal with them. Then, on the way home, he got a phone call. He pulled over and parked the car, and then took the phone. It was from his boss. He finished the call and we re-started. We thanked him for following our “defensive driving” lesson, and urged him to do so every time – not just because we were in the car! He promised to drive safely. Thank you Prabhakar, and spread the message amongst your friends.

We were very happy that Prabhakar internalised our message. Even if it makes a difference to one person, the session is worth the effort!

Here are a few pics from the event