Road Safety Plan Takes Shape at Ahmedabad District Workshop
Ahmedabad Workshop Sets Out Road Safety Action Plan Under Zero Fatality District Programme
Ahmedabad, September 29, 2026: Road safety officials, police officers and government departments met in Ahmedabad on Tuesday to discuss ways to reduce road crash deaths under the Zero Fatality District (ZFD) Programme run by SaveLIFE Foundation in partnership with the Gujarat Road Safety Authority (GujROSA).
The workshop brought together officials from Ahmedabad Police, the Regional Transport Office (RTO), the State Traffic Branch, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), the Roads and Buildings Department (R&B), Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) and other agencies. The meeting focused on a shared plan for road safety work across Ahmedabad district, including steps that departments can take immediately.
Anupam Singh Gehlot, IPS, Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad City, attended the workshop as the Guest of Honour.
The programme is underway in Ahmedabad and Surat, the two Gujarat districts listed among India’s 100 highest-burden districts for road crash severity. SaveLIFE Foundation is working with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), state governments and district administrations to address road safety problems in these areas.
The workshop examined road safety through four areas: road engineering, traffic law enforcement, driver education and public awareness, and emergency medical care. These are commonly called the four Es of road safety.
The ZFD Programme uses crash records to identify where accidents happen, when they occur, which vehicles or road users are involved, how collisions take place and what factors may have caused them.
This information can help authorities identify roads and junctions where crashes happen often. It can also guide decisions on police deployment, traffic checks and road repairs.
The Ahmedabad workshop included a review of road safety priorities identified through crash data analysis. SaveLIFE Foundation and district agencies also presented findings from joint site assessments carried out in Ahmedabad district.
The assessments examined road conditions and possible risks, including untreated junctions, gaps in road medians, missing crash barriers and roadside objects that could cause serious injuries during a collision.
Such problems can increase the risk of severe crashes, particularly where vehicles travel at high speeds or where road users have little protection. Correcting these conditions can form part of a wider effort to prevent deaths and serious injuries.
The departments attending the workshop discussed agency-specific recommendations and the steps needed to put them into practice. Their responsibilities differ, since road construction, traffic enforcement, vehicle regulation and emergency response are handled by different authorities.
The meeting aimed to establish a common understanding of the programme and identify immediate actions for each department. The workshop also addressed what happens after a road crash. Participants discussed trauma care facilities, first-responder training and ambulance response times.
A crash victim’s chances of survival can depend on how quickly medical help arrives and how soon treatment begins. People injured in road crashes in India often reach hospitals through private transport rather than organised emergency medical services, according to the workshop material.
This raises questions about access to emergency care, particularly for people injured on roads outside major urban centres.
Training local first responders can help provide early assistance while an ambulance is on its way. Better coordination between police, ambulance services and hospitals can also reduce delays in treatment.
The recommendations discussed in Ahmedabad are intended to improve the entire response process, from the crash site to hospital care.
The ZFD Programme forms part of India’s efforts to reduce road deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030, in line with the Stockholm Declaration adopted in February 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
SaveLIFE Foundation began its Zero Fatality District initiative in 2021. In January 2026, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari formally launched the national programme, which covers 100 districts identified through crash data analysis.
The national programme marks a move towards district-wide road safety planning. Earlier efforts often concentrated on specific accident-prone locations or relied heavily on traffic enforcement. The district model includes road design, police action, public awareness and emergency medical services.
The district approach also addresses the fact that nearly 65% of road crashes and fatalities in India occur outside national highways and expressways, according to the figures cited by the programme. State highways, major district roads and local roads fall under different government authorities, making coordination between departments necessary.
The national road safety challenge remains large. Government figures recorded 1,77,177 road crash deaths across India in 2024. This underlines the scale of work required to meet the 2030 target.
Satish Patel, IAS (Retd.), Commissioner of the Gujarat Road Safety Authority, said:
“Road safety is a shared responsibility that requires every department to work from the same set of facts and towards the same targets. The Zero Fatality District approach gives our districts a clear, data-backed method to identify where crashes are concentrated and what needs to change on the ground. Ahmedabad and Surat are priority districts for us, and workshops such as this one help convert analysis into time-bound action by the agencies responsible for our roads, our enforcement and our emergency response.”
Piyush Tewari, Founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, said:
“Districts are where India’s road safety crisis will ultimately be won or lost. The Zero Fatality District Programme replaces assumptions with rigorous crash-data forensics and brings engineering, enforcement, emergency care and public engagement together under a single, district-led plan, rather than treating them as separate mandates. The orientation workshop in Ahmedabad has built a shared understanding and common approach among the departments responsible for implementation. We are grateful to the Gujarat Road Safety Authority and the Ahmedabad District Administration for their partnership in taking this important work forward in Gujarat.”
The Ahmedabad workshop ended with discussions on immediate steps and department-level responsibilities. The next stage will depend on how the participating agencies carry out the recommended measures and track their results. For residents, the practical test will be whether road improvements, traffic enforcement and emergency response lead to fewer deaths and serious injuries on Ahmedabad’s roads.
Must Read:
Road Safety Takes Centre Stage at SAFE Convention in Gujarat
