The new concept, a part of a `Traffic Management Plan' of the department, is aimed at reducing accidents and controlling vehicular traffic on the busy highways.

``GIS is primarily a computer software developed by STB to identify the requirements and problems faced on the highways,'' observes deputy superintendent of police (DySP) Subhash Trivedi, who is with STB.

He said it also offered a preplanned remedy for several untoward situations in which policemen felt helpless in the absence of any strategy to deal with mishaps on the highway.

GIS, he said, will help policemen identify the territorial limits of the highways and the points where help is readily available.

The new software has clearly defined the entire concept of traffic management before the officials. Trivedi has found this package a unique system for identifying accident-prone points on 236 state highways and eight national highways. But more emphasis is on national highway number 8 and 8-A, where fatal mishaps are maximum.

STB, it is learnt, is active on 11 routes of 1,538 km in the state and not on national highways number 14 (Radhanpur to Amirgarh), 15 (Samkhiyari to Sanchor), 6 (Surat to Songadh), 8-A (Kandla to Ahmedabad) and 59 (Ahmedabad to Dahod), due to shortage of manpower.

Trivedi says, ``The package will put the entire state highway network on computers, identifying the total length, staff deployed, accident prone zones on that route, number of hospitals in the vicinity, address and telephone number of doctors in the area and availability of ambulance''.

For the last one year STB was working on the project and would take another year to complete it for implementation and the health department is also providing assistance to policemen in the new management plan. As yet, the branch has prepared an action plan to control serious road accidents, besides, highway route maps showing details of blood banks, hospitals, non-government organisations, hotels, petrol pumps, telephone numbers, identified accident prone zones by specific study and survey of routes and identified alternative routes during traffic jams. This could be taken as a good beginning, as observed.

Still the officials believe there is an urgent need to check fatal mishaps on the highways. Official figures portray shocking details. In 1995, 3,825 fatal accidents were registered on the highways, and this went up to 4,015 in 1996, and 4,451 in 1997. The number of serious accidents was also as high as 6,213 in 1997, compared to 5,012 in 1995.

But the first six months of 1998 showed quite changes. A total 2,429 fatal and 3,333 serious accidents were registered on the highways during the said period. In all, 2,846 persons died and 4,703 were seriously injured in these mishaps.

At highways and sensitive points where STB conducted its vigil, the number of accidents was comparatively less. It was 2,585 in 1995, 1,209 in (January to April) 1996 and 1,482 in (January to June) 1998.

But several things are yet to be completed in the absence of facilities. The department is facing corruption within in the set-up, has dearth of staff and resources like vehicles, cranes and computers, it require more well equipped traffic aid posts and want that traffic should be a compulsory subject in the primary school. The department is also going to start a traffic education school for policemen in the near future and would organise a permanent traffic exhibition to educate public.