Kochi: Commuters waiting to catch a bus at the Vytilla Mobility Hub had a pleasant surprise on Tuesday evening when a group of college students staged a street play. The theme of the play - safe driving practices.
Soon the crowd that had assembled grew larger as the play ‘No Parking’ staged by 11 students of the Bharat Matha College progressed.
The play touched on the dangers of drunken driving, mobile phone use, rash driving and minors riding motorcycles among others. Akhilesh Thayoor wrote the play.
“This is what we want, to reach the message of safe driving to as many people as possible. We’re staging a road show and street plays at 15 places across the district as part of the Road Safety Awareness Week. We find the play effective especially among the target audience – teenagers and youth,” said Vinod Kumar N, assistant motor vehicle inspector in charge of the MVD-initiated drive.
The team has already staged the play at Paravur, Kakkanad, Fort Kochi, Thoppumpady, Mattanchery and Vytilla. Hub so far. Today, the group will be staging three more performances at Thripunithura, Aluva and Lulu mall.
The efforts of the group have been quite effective. Ever since the Road Safety Awareness programme has been initiated, there has been a drop in deaths due to vehicle mishaps in 2013.
“Last year saw a drop in accident deaths by 180. Our initiative is well supported by educational institutions who are converting the issue into a campaign. However, we still have a huge challenge, as daily nearly 12 to 13 people die in road mishaps in the state,” said Ernakulam regional transport officer B J Antony.
