Traffic police draw a blank from wheel clamps in city

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 17

The wheel clamps, introduced by the traffic police around two years ago, are barely used to check wrong parking in the city.

The then Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Traffic, Dhruman Nimbale had introduced this concept in the city in 2015. Later, he was transferred following his promotion. After that, the usage of wheel clamps was almost dropped.

The traffic police are now dependent on the tow-away vehicles. Residents say there are few parking lots in the city, so they are forced to park their vehicle on the roadsides. For haphazard parking, errants have to appear before the court or go to the traffic control room to pay fine and get their vehicles back. Further, the traffic police follow pick and choose policy in the absence of enough tow-away vehicles. “The authorities concerned should provide enough parking lots before penalising the people. The traffic police should evolve a system where they penalise the offender on the spot. After a vehicle is towed away, the owner is left panicked as he or she thinks his vehicle has been stolen,” said Jagmohan Singh, a resident of Chheharta.

A traffic cop, requesting anonymity, said wheel clamps were a better option than tow-away procedure. Whenever the police clamp the wheels of a vehicle, a sticker is pasted on the windscreen so that the owner may contact a toll free number for help. Upon being contacted, traffic police reach the spot and impose fine on the errant. In case the police are not called within half an hour, the vehicle is towed away and in such cases, the offenders are made to pay a hefty fine in accordance with the norms.