Gururgam: In the month of March, the Gururgam traffic police levied fine on 98,954 vehicles. This was much lesser than the previous two months of January and February. While in February 1,11,653 vehicles were challaned and in January there were 1,29,853 drivers who were challaned.
Traffic violators in the form of driving in the wrong lane and those parking the vehicles illegally were on top in the list among those who were challaned by the law enforcement officials.
There were 6,514 challans for those driving in the wrong lane and 11,233 fines levied on those who had parked their vehicles wrongly. In other violations, there were 601 incidents of drunken driving 1354 vehicles. Normally the Gurgaon traffic police and area police challans around 3,500 vehicles in the day but during special drives, the figures in the past have crossed to over 20,000 vehicles.
The Gurugram police have conducted initiatives where a large number of challans were made on erring drivers. Yet the rate of accidents in Gurugram continues to be high. Last year there were over 442 people who lost their lives due to accidents on the city roads.
According to an official report, the majority of accidents happened beacuse the vehicles were moving in the wrong direction. While the traffic police claim there has been a crackdown, there are repeated complaints of rash, drunken and underage driving. "I hope the strict approach taken by the traffic police is beneficial in instilling proper traffic sense among the residents. Sadly, the situation is not bright. Being stationed in prominent areas will result in police getting hold of a large number of people however the main culprits which are the trucks, autos and private buses get away maybe because of their clout," said Amardeep Singh, a resident.
"As Gurugram is expanding very fast, it is not possible for our office to be in every corner. Yet, through these initiatives we want to ensure that commuting is safe in Gurugram," said a senior police official from Gurugram police.
In 2017, the Gurugram traffic police collected a total of Rs 11 crore through fines. This record was broken in the six months of 2018 itself with the law enforcement officials collecting Rs 15 crores from the period of January to August.