Bhubaneswar: Driving licence will be cancelled or fines will be slapped for overstepping speed limits fixed for various roads and driving without helmets in Odisha.

The direction was issued to the district collectors and the transport officials through a videoconference by the Odisha government.

Odisha chief secretary A.P. Padhi said: "Henceforth, enforcement of the road safety laws will be made stricter, particularly for the vehicles plying on the national highways. Penalty will be imposed on the violators for driving vehicles without wearing helmets or for over-speeding."

Odisha's director-general of police R.P. Sharma said the state government was contemplating to empower the police personnel to levy and collect fine from the traffic law violators in the rural areas.

Official sources said the Odisha government was worried on high rate of fatal accidents (around 42 per cent) across the state. In 2016, deaths of around 3,300 persons had taken place due to accidents. Most of the accident victims were mainly bread earners and aged between 18 and 60 years.

Odisha's transport commissioner M.S. Padhi said he had directed all the district collectors to notify the speed limits on various stretches of the national highway and other major roads.

Padhi instructed the National Highways Authority of India and other state departments responsible for construction of roads to put up sign boards along the stretches mentioning the speed limits, He also asked the concerned officials to use speed interceptors in large scale.