Chandigarh: Traffic challans up by 21% this year, drink driving fines down

At least 38 per cent (88,152) of the total challans issued were through CCTV cameras, and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Speed Radars, with these fines being delivered at the doorsteps of violators.

The figures provided by the UT traffic police states that 28 per cent (64,202) of the traffic challans issued were for overspeeding detected through three Automatic Number Plate Recognition Speed Radars, which are able to catch speeding vehicles from a distance of around 1km.

Chandigarh police have at least seven ANPR speed radars but only three are put in service at any time, a traffic cop said. At least 10.72 per cent (23,950) of the total challans were issued through CCTV cameras installed throughout Chandigarh. The violations caught on CCTV cameras include parking of vehicles on the zebra crossing and red light jumps.

The practice of issuing manual traffic challans through challan receipts has been stopped in Chandigarh since July 2021. Traffic challans have gone digital and are issued through e-challan devices, which are connected with the National Informatics Centre under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

This, officers said, has helped reduce paperwork while bringing transparency in the collection of fines, which directly is deposited in the state’s treasury.

A traffic police officer said, “For issuing the e-challans through devices, traffic police officers had to earlier manually stop an offending vehicle. Sometimes the motorists managed to dodge our personnel. Hence, we decided to bring in technology that now helps us intercept vehicles and issue challans with the help of speed radars and CCTV cameras. At a time when the spread of Covid-19 is again slowly increasing, the new technology has helped us reduce human contact while dealing with traffic violators.”

Data also showed that the number of fines issued this year for drink driving had also come down substantially, owing mainly due to the Covid-19 protocols in place that prohibit the use of breathalyzers. Data showed that challans for drink driving were issued in isolated cases, only when inebriated drivers met with road accidents.

Notably, at least161 locations have been identified for the installation of CCTV cameras under the intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) in Chandigarh. These cameras will be capable of issuing simultaneous challans for various offences at a time. These challans, too, will generate automatically and dispatch to the registration addresses of the vehicles’ owners.

SSP (traffic/security) Manisha Chaudhary said, “We are also issuing challans through our newly purchased handy cams for various visible violations, such as red light jumping, driving without helmets, in addition to the CCTVs and speed guns. Our aim is to use technology to capture violations (evidence-based) and minimise human contact. This helps in bringing much more transparency and aids in better utilisation of manpower.”