Kolkata, Jan. 12 -- Kolkata Police has reported a significant reduction in road accident fatalities, with only 154 fatal cases recorded in 2025-the lowest among all metro cities.
Unveiling the T-shirt for the Safe Drive Save Life (SDSL) Half Marathon on Monday, Commissioner of Police (CP), Kolkata, Manoj Kumar Verma, congratulated his team and the public, stressing that the achievement would not have been possible without citizens' cooperation.
The event was attended by actor and TMC MP Dev. According to Verma, the city had recorded 191 road accident deaths in 2024.
"In 2016, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched the SDSL campaign. When I was Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) in 2007-08, the number of accident-related deaths in Kolkata was around 400. Since then, areas such as Behala-Jadavpur have been added, and in 2024 Bhangar also came under Kolkata Police. Despite the expansion of jurisdiction, fatalities have come down to 154, which is the lowest among all major cities and metros," Verma said.
He added that sustained awareness campaigns and public support played a key role in the improvement. "Our target is to perform even better this year," the CP said.
Senior officials of the Kolkata Police said that over 15,000 participants have registered for the SDSL Half Marathon, scheduled for January 18. While online registration closed on Saturday, spot registration will be allowed from January 15 to 17 during T-shirt distribution.
Officials also noted that a distinctive feature of this year's SDSL is that the 21 km and 10 km runs will serve as qualifying events for participants aged 35 years and above for the World Masters Athletics Championships 2026, to be held in Daegu from August 22 to September 3.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.