Tezpur (Assam): Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang district entered the Guinness Book of World Records on Sunday by forming the 'largest helmet sentence' to highlight the importance of road safety, especially in the mountains. A total of 2,350 helmets were used to create the sentence ‘Jai Hind’ at the Gyalwa Tsangyang Gyatso high-altitude stadium on Sunday.
The event titled ‘Lakshya’- to create awareness on road safety was organised by Amazing Namaste Foundation in collaboration with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. Chief Minister Pema Khandu blew the whistle to start the proceedings of helmet formation. The helmet sentence formation was completed, with Khandu, along with MLAs of Tawang and West Kameng districts, leading to the place of helmets according to the formation.
Khandu and Atul Kulkarni, Chairman of the Amazing Namaste Foundation, jointly received the Certificate of Confirmation from the Guinness Book of World Records representative Swapnil Dangorikar. Speaking on the occasion, Khandu said "awareness of road safety measures and adherence to traffic rules have become important with improved road quality in the hills."
Khandu said, “People, especially youths riding bikes, tend to drive faster on good roads. It has been found that over-speeding is the major cause of accidents on our roads here. Therefore, this event and the creation of a world record would draw the people's attention towards road safety and mandatory use of helmets while riding two-wheelers."
A survey carried out by the government indicates that about 1.5 lakh lives are lost annually in road accidents in India. With the improvement in the road network and better vehicles, there is a need to create awareness among the riders, drivers and general public to follow traffic rules as well as driving protocols.
Also read: Haryana: 12-yr-old boy creates 3 apps, enters Guinness Book of World Records
“Making it to the Guinness Book of World Records with ‘Jai Hind’ formed with the largest number of helmets is not only a message to people of Arunachal but from all over India, who come visiting our mountainous state and get carried away by the natural beauty and quality of roads. Follow traffic rules and use helmets,” Khandu added.
To mark the event and create awareness of road safety, a bike rally was also taken out that started from the famous Tawang Monastery and culminated at the stadium via the Maratha Ground. The bike rally comprising about 200 riders from various parts of the state and CRPF personnel was joined by Khandu. He later handed over souvenirs to the bikers appreciating their participation and contribution to creating awareness of road safety. The event was also attended by Tawang MLA Tsering Tashi, including all four MLAs of West Kameng district, Phurpa Tsering of Dirang, Kumsi Sidisow of Thrizino-Buragaon, Dongru Siongju of Bomdila and Darjee Wangdi Kharman of Kalaktang besides officials of the Tawang district administration.
