Sarvejana Foundation Turns Hyderabad Into ‘Saferabad’ with Yama’s Help

Hyderabad, Dec 3, 2025: Under the auspices of the Sarvejana Foundation, a unique road-safety initiative has been launched with the aim of transforming Hyderabad into “Saferabad.” To curb the seven deadly sins that lead to road accidents, Yamadharma Raja himself was symbolically brought down to earth from the world of Yama. Taking a few days’ leave from the underworld, Yamadharma Raja arrived on earth with the determination to prevent untimely deaths, which have been increasing to the point that even the underworld is unable to handle them properly.

With a firm resolve to stop premature deaths, he is appearing at major traffic junctions across Hyderabad for a day each—educating people who ride without helmets or drive without seat belts. On Wednesday, at an awareness program organized by Sarvejana Foundation at the Rasoolpura Junction, Sarvejana Foundation Chairman Dr. A. V. Gurava Reddy stated that this marked the first phase of their road-safety initiative.

The Foundation has selected 365 major traffic junctions across the city and will carry out road-safety programs at these locations throughout the year with a mission to reduce untimely deaths and transform Hyderabad into Saferabad.

Dr. Gurava Reddy explained that the seven deadly sins—over-speeding, drunk driving, using mobile phones while driving, signal jumping, driving on the wrong route, not wearing seat belts, and not wearing helmets—are the reasons why one person dies every three minutes in India due to road accidents. Although India has only 1% of the world’s vehicles, the country accounts for 16% of global road-accident deaths, which is alarming.

While the United States has four times more road accidents than India, India suffers four times more deaths, primarily due to poor compliance with traffic rules. He noted that 60% of road-accident deaths can be prevented simply by following traffic regulations. Creating public awareness of this is the core purpose of the initiative.

During the meeting, Sarvejana Foundation CEO, retired IAS officer Dr. B. Janardhan Reddy, delivered a PowerPoint presentation outlining the precautions needed to prevent road accidents and the activities being undertaken by the Foundation.

Later, at the awareness event held at Rasoolpura Junction, Secunderabad GHMC Zonal Commissioner Ravi Kiran, North Zone Traffic ACP Shankar Raju, and Sarvejana Foundation members Vamsi Modugula and Ram Manjeri participated. Arjun Rao, dressed as Yamadharma Raja, used the symbolic “Yama Paasha” to educate people about the seven deadly sins of road safety.