To strengthen road safety awareness among children, students, and parents, the Maharashtra Transport Department will establish 60 ‘Traffic Gardens’ across the state, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik announced in Nagpur on Friday. Citing a worrying rise in accidents involving school buses and student transport, he noted that 40% of road accident victims are pedestrians, and 60% of all fatalities occur due to non-adherence to traffic rules—highlighting the urgent need for early traffic education.
These Traffic Gardens will function as interactive training zones, offering real-life simulations of traffic environments. Sarnaik said every district with an RTO office and at least one acre of open land will host such a garden. Where land is insufficient, municipal bodies or district administrations will be asked to allot the required space. The RTO will handle maintenance, supported by state and central Road Safety Funds. Each garden will be developed at a cost of ₹1 crore, with RTO officers conducting weekly educational sessions.
Children will learn traffic symbols, signal systems and safe pedestrian behaviour, which Sarnaik said would shape disciplined road habits from an early age. Calling it a “game-changing project,” he said Maharashtra will be the first state to offer structured traffic education through such centres.
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