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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, April 8: The city8217;s motorists aren8217;t taking kindly to the traffic department8217;s new gadget to enforce no parking zones. The traffic police has now filed cases against three car owners at the Khar and Bandra police stations last week for damaging wheel clamps fitted on their vehicles whilst they were parked in no parking areas.
The latest case was filed at the Khar police station on Tuesday night while the first two were made out last week. On March 20, the traffic department issued its first batch of 100 wheel clamps to its M division at Khar, to be fitted on vehicles parked in no parking zones. When a traffic constable spots a vehicle in the no parking zone, he fits the clamp on its wheel, immobilising it. The owner then has to pay a fine of Rs 100 at the traffic police booth and accompany the constable who unlocks the yellow calliper-shaped clamp.
Joint Commissioner of Police Traffic SPS Yadav says that the department hopes to send out a clear signal to motorists to refrain from damaging clamps. 8220;We hope these three cases will send out a proper signal to the public to behave and not break the clamps as easily as they argue with traffic constables.8221;
In fact, one of the reasons for introducing the clamps was to silence the vociferous protests from motorists that only certain vehicles were being towed away from a no parking zone. The traffic police attribute this to severe shortage of towing vehicles and staff.
However, with the introduction of the clamps, a lone constable can immobiliseall the vehicles parked in a no parking zone, provided they do not obstruct the free flow of traffic. Depending on the success of the first batch of clamps, the department would place a fresh order for additional clamps, Yadav said.
