In order to prevent road accidents, protection of the eyes is essential, said New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) Chairman A V Raman on Tuesday.
He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating the ‘Vision Correction’, an eye screening and eyeglasses distribution programme for the commercial truck drivers, allied transport workers at NMPT, organised by MRPL in association with Shell India and VisionSpring organisations.
“Around five lakh road accidents take place in the country annually and among these, 1.5 lakh accidents are fatal resulting in deaths,” he pointed out.
NMPT has tied up with the CSR initiatives of Shell India and VisionSpring to help thousands of commercial drivers and allied transportation workers transiting through the port to have a good vision and drive safer,” he said.
Shell India Country Head Ekta Kumar said Shell India and VisionSpring had earlier committed to the #DriveSafeIndia initiative which aims to help 3.65 lakh commercial drivers and allied transportation workers to drive safer by the end of 2020.
“Drivers, mechanics and other allied transport workers across four states - Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka – will receive free vision screening, low-cost eyeglasses and referrals for other eye conditions as a part of this initiative,” she added.
VisionSpring Manager Sulekha and NMPT Traffic Manager Y K Belagal were present.