No heavy vehicles during peak hours

If approved,the Chandigarh Administration will issue a formal notification in this regard. Confirming the development,Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Vijay Kumar told Newsline,“We had tried the ban for over a month on a trial basis to await its feedback. We have received positive feedback from the public. Also,we noticed that the congestion caused from 8 am to 10 am was reduced noticably when the ban on plying of heavy vehicles was imposed. As a result,we have written to the Administration asking that this temporary arrangement should be made permanent for the betterment of public.”

This has been a long pending demand of Chandigarh and Panchkula residents to restrict movement of heavy vehicles,especially during peak hours. The heavy vehicles,mainly trucks loaded with goods coming from outstations to Chandigarh’s transport area,were a major cause of traffic congestion on the busy stretch.

The Traffic Police had made alternative arrangements for the heavy vehicles during the ban. The same alternative arrangements will be provided to heavy vehicles if the Administration decides to accept the proposal and issue a notification.

Keeping an eye on traffic violators

To keep a closer eye on traffic violators in the city,the Traffic Police is contemplating installation of 15 to 20 CCTV cameras in addition to the existing ones. The issue was taken up in a recent meeting and a formal decision in this regard is likely to be taken soon. “We want to man all the important lightpoints in the city by CCTV cameras. At present,we have CCTV cameras installed at 20 lightpoints as against nearly 60 lightpoints in the city. We have plans of installing around 20 more CCTV cameras to keep an eye on traffic violations and other offences. The matter has been taken up at the highest level and a decision will soon be taken soon,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP),Traffic,Vijay Kumar. He added that there is also a move to upgrade the existing CCTV cameras for better clarity.