In Faridabad, 83K challaned in 3 months

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, April 10

Taking a tough stance against traffic rule violators in the city, the police have issued 83,852 challans and imposed a fine of Rs 2,65,59,009 between January and March.

In the period, the police have penalised violators for 87,436 offences. Most number of challans were issued in March (33,365), followed by January (31,788) and February (22,283). The fine imposed monthly was in the range Rs 63.76 lakh to Rs 1.11 crore.

The maximum number of challans were issued for driving without helmet, followed by over-speeding, dangerous driving, wrong-side driving, failure to keep mandatory accessories and improper number plate, respectively. In the same period, 70 persons lost their lives in 160 accidents in the city.

Sources in the district administration said the increase in traffic violations had been due to non-functioning CCTV camera surveillance system. “Many CCTV cameras have broken or are not operating due to ongoing construction activities, shortage of staff and inadequate infrastructure,” an official of the traffic police said. At present, there are 800 CCTV cameras in the city against the 1,500 that were demanded by the district authorities, he added.

There is also a shortage of hand held e-challan machines. Only 80 such machines are available with the traffic police. Due to shortage of these machines, cops have to use their mobile phones for issuing challans.

“Despite being a metropolitan, the infrastructure to keep a tab on traffic rule violations is in a shamble. The city requires at least 500 more cops,” Devender Singh, president of the NGO ‘Road Safety Omni Foundation’ said.

Claiming that majority of the violations take place on the internal roads, he said only issuing challans wouldn’t prevent accidents. “Unchecked movement of tractor- trolleys, carriage vehicles without registration number and overloaded vehicles is an issue for concern,” he said.

The traffic police were taking all measures to curb violations of traffic norms to ensure smooth vehicular movement, a police official said. “Around 500 postal challans are issued daily,” he added.