Addressing a workshop organised to mark the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) here on Friday, Paudel called on to bring projects for laying optical fibre along highways and feeder roads. “The government will arrange the required funds,” he said.
For the last four years, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has been planning to lay optical fibre along the Mid-Hill Highway, utilising the resources available in the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund. However, the plan that aims to link all 75 districts with fibre connection has not moved ahead due to the procedural delay. Currently, the fund has around Rs 7 billion.
Minister Paudel also asked the stakeholders to maximise the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education, heath, rural development, import and export sectors and use its tools for road safety.
Participants of the workshop said the ICT could be used in creating traffic awareness, vehicle’s speed monitoring, post accident rescue and capacity building of drivers.
The WTISD this year is being celebrated across the world under the theme “ICTs and Improving Road Safety”. The WTISD, celebrated each year on May 17, marks the anniversary of the signature of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865 which led to the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nation body on the telecommunication sector.
Every year, nearly 1.3 million people are killed every year worldwide through road accidents. In a statement issued on the occasion of the WTISD, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said ICTs provided many options.
“Intelligent Transport Systems and navigation devices can help reduce congestion. Radars can help to prevent collisions with other road users — including pedestrians,” he stated. Each year 1,300 people on an average are killed in Nepal in road accidents, especially due to over-speeding.
“The use of ICT for reducing the accident rate has to be pragmatic as it not possible to adopt advance technologies like development countries,” said Saroj Kumar Pradhan, senior divisional engineer at the Department of Roads and general secretary of Road Safety Society-Nepal.
Pradhan said to start with, the government could install CCTV surveillance cameras to monitor vehicle speed for reducing accidents.
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Quelle/Source: E Kantipur, 18.05.2013
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