Motorists take rules for a ride in Mohali

Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service
Mohali, September 22

While Mohali is being projected as a model town of Punjab, traffic violations continue to plague the township as is evident from a large number of challans being issued to motorists every month.

Jumping the red light, riding two-wheelers without helmets, not wearing the seat belt, driving on the wrong side, wrong parking, use of mobile phone while driving and underage driving are common traffic violations here.

According to police sources, there are only about 135 traffic policemen for the entire district, who are inadequate given the area as well as the volume of traffic.

“On an average, we issue 400 challans for traffic violations daily,” said Kuldeep Singh Chahal, Senior Superintendent of Police, Mohali. He added, “We are also installing more CCTV cameras in the township to keep an eye on traffic violations and identify the violators.”

Residents point out that people do not tend to follow traffic rules in the absence of traffic cops. “Even those who are cautious about traffic rules in Chandigarh, where strictness is high, throw all caution to the winds on entering Mohali. They remove their helmets or seat belts and jump the red light,” said Anil Kumar, a resident of Phase 4. Only a few days ago, five persons were killed when a speeding SUV rammed into an overloaded auto-rickshaw at the Sector 71–Phase 7 light point.

“The Centre has notified new rules for traffic violations and heavy penalty is imposed on violators. However, the Punjab  government has not decided to implement these yet, which is not good,” said Ritika Sharma, a college student. “If rules are strict and penalties are heavy, surely there would be less traffic violations,” she added.

“No doubt, we are short of staff, but we carry out drives against traffic violators regularly. Special nakas are set up at strategic points for the purpose,” said a senior police official. “People tend to compare the situation here with Chandigarh, ignorant of the fact that the strength of traffic police there is almost ten times of that in Mohali,” he added.