Manipur: How Facebook helped Imphal friends to come together to reduce accidents on roads

A group of men, all Facebook friends, were seen on Thursday manning the traffic alongside the policemen in Imphal, Manipur.

Imphal, April 13: In the recent times, the social media giant, Facebook, has been receiving a lot of flak over its role in the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal. However, the power of Facebook to bring together people under one platform can't be denied as long as good Samaritans want to do something for society. In an attempt to reduce accidents on the roads of Imphal, the capital city of Manipur, a group of Facebook friends are helping the traffic police in their daily job.

A group of men (all Facebook friends) was seen on Thursday manning the traffic alongside the policemen in the city. The civilians decided to help the cops as a step to reduce the rate of road accidents in the city which since the last few months have led to the deaths of many pedestrians and motorists.

Like the traffic cops, the Facebook friends were also dressed in their own unique "uniform". Men in blue caps and white t-shirts with the logo of Facebook written on them helped in differentiating the cops from the civilians.

"Imphal: A group of Facebook friends came out on the roads to help the traffic police in regulating the traffic. This was done as a step to reduce the rate of road accidents which have increased over time & have claimed lives of many. #Manipur," tweeted ANI.

Almost on a regular basis, Manipur newspapers report about accidents and loss of lives on roads. On Wednesday, a mother and her son died in a road accident in Imphal West while they were carrying the dead body of the husband of the deceased woman in a vehicle which was hit by a truck.

In March this year, three members of a family lost their lives while one sustained injuries in a road accident which took place along the Imphal-Dimapur highway at Koirengei.

Such tragedies are frequent in Imphal mostly because of traffic mismanagement and increasing numbers of vehicles on roads, allege residents of the city. Figures pertaining to road accidents and deaths are frightening. In fact, 15 people die every hour in India because of road accidents.

"India tops the global list of deaths due to road accidents with 125,000 fatalities and at least 2.2 million serious injuries each year," stated the latest WHO's global status report on road safety.

The residents of Imphal say that the effort of Facebook friends will go a long way in helping reduce the number of road accidents in the city. "It is also a kind of awareness programme where civilians help men in khaki to bring down accidents," said one of the men belonging to the Facebook friends' group.