Walkie-talkies to help nail traffic violators

In a city where traffic chaos has become a way of life, traffic cops have their arms full hauling up rule violators.

In a city where traffic chaos has become a way of life, traffic cops have their arms full hauling up rule violators. They welcome any help to make their task easier. The cops had often come under attack from violators of traffic rules. After arming them with batons to curb such attacks, cops manning 50 busiest chowks in the city will now be armed with walkie-talkies as well.

The cops have welcomed the first phase of implementation of the walkie-talkie project, which began a few days back.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Manoj Patil, traffic, said, 8220;The decision to use walkie-talkies on all busy chowks was taken on trial basis. Initially, we will concentrate on the 50 busiest junctions. We will progress slowly to all chowks.8221;

According to Patil, anyone found jumping traffic signals would be dealt with severely. The constable manning the signal will immediately send out a message to the next chowk with details of the commuter so that he can be nabbed promptly.

8220;Owing to the large number of two-wheelers in the city, incidents of riders jumping signals and entering no-entry zones are on the rise. We asked for 200 walkie-talkies initially. In the first batch we received 50. We will be getting the rest soon,8221; he said.

8220;We began the first phase on December 18. Some major chowks we are focusing on are Jedhe Chowk Swargate, COEP Chowk, Sancheti Hospital Chowk, Shimla Office Chowk, Jehangir Hospital Chowk and Juna Bazaar Chowk. We will first study as to how effective the program is before implementing it in all chowks,8221; he said.

In the last three days, traffic police have penalised 325 errant commuters. The offences ranged from jumping signals to disregarding no-entry signs.

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Patil came down heavily on the rising incidents of driving under the influence of alcohol. He said, 8220;we have tied up with the RTO. Anyone found driving in an inebriated state will first be locked up for a day and produced in court the next day. In addition to charges of drunken driving he will also be charged under the Motor Vehicles Act for reckless and negligent driving.

Depending on the severity of the offence we will revoke their driving licence as well. The licence will be cancelled for a minimum of one month. It will be fully suspended for serious offences.8221;

The traffic police have urged citizens to follow rules and not jump signals. 8220;Anyone caught either misbehaving with traffic police or flouting rules or driving in an inebriated state will be dealt with severely,8221; said Patil.