After Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed interest in resolving traffic issues, the Mumbai traffic police have submitted six proposals, which were either shot down by the previous government or on which no action had been taken, to the CM’s office. Senior traffic officials said the six proposals had been submitted again to the departments concerned, and though there had not been any direct dialogue, they were sent as reminders to the government. The proposals include e-challan, 500 dedicated CCTVs for 400 main junctions across the city, increase in traffic personnel, conversion of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-owned grounds to underground parking spaces, routing the fine money collected by the traffic police through a bank account and returning 50 per cent of the fine money to the traffic police for upgradation. With a requirement of 5,000 parking spaces in the city and in a bid to decongest it, the traffic police have submitted a proposal to the civic authorities to construct underground parking facilities below the three iconic maidans in the island city — Oval, Cross and Azad maidans. “We have sent reminders on these proposals already. We now hope that the files move forward. The proposals have been routed through proper channels and we will have discussions soon,” said B K Upadhyay, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic). Upadhyay said under the proposed e-challan system, officers would be given a hand-held device, which will read data of smart cards, credit cards, will keep records of the vehicle registration number, chassis number, and licence numbers. In the e-challan system, one could pay for any traffic violation through credit cards via this system and would be given a receipt, said officials. The traffic police first submitted the e-challan proposal in 2012. Speaking on other proposals, Upadhyay added, “Each year, the traffic police collect Rs 20 crore on an average as fines from commuters. If we get even 50 per cent back, it can be used for upgradation of technology. The proposal was rejected by the previous government.” Among other proposals, the traffic police have asked for 500 CCTV cameras for the major junctions of the city. “There are around 550 main junctions in Mumbai, but we have asked for 400 cameras exclusively to cover traffic and roads. These CCTVs have been requested under the CCTV project, which has been pending with the Home Department,” said Upadhyay. The police have also asked for an increase of 1,600 constables and officials in the department. megha.sood@expressindia.com
