Thaindian News

By Alkesh Sharma
Chandigarh, March 8 (IANS) Jumping red lights, driving without helmets and seatbelts, using mobile phones behind the wheel, they do it all. It seems many Chandigarh residents throw traffic rules out of the window, accounting for over 500 ‘challans’ or fines every day!

With the maximum density of vehicles for any Indian city and a rapidly increasing population, the union territory is obviously finding it difficult to manage the surging number of traffic rule violators, leading to frequent road accidents.

In 2009, the traffic police issued 183,530 challans (fines for traffic violations) - amounting to over 500 challans every day. Through these challans, Chandigarh netted a huge revenue of nearly Rs.4.14 crore (Rs.41.4 million).

This was around Rs.30 lakh (Rs 3 million) more than in 2008 when revenue collection from challans was nearly Rs.3.83 crore.

“Yes, it is quite true that over the last few years the pressure on Chandigarh roads has increased significantly. We have also seen a spurt in traffic violations, but we are trying our level best to manage the situation,” H.S. Doon, superintendent of police (traffic and security), told IANS.

In 2009, the maximum number of challans (28,975) were issued for jumping red lights, closely followed by motorists driving without helmet (28,489), whereas 11,710 were issued for driving without seatbelts and and 4,338 for using mobile phones while driving.

Surprisingly, the least number of challans were for driving by minors (115) and driving under the influence of alcohol (333) - though these are among the major reasons for accidents on city roads.

“Revenue collection is not at all important for us and we do not even think about it. We are only concerned about the increasing number of accidents and in 2010 our main focus is on decreasing them through every possible way,” said Doon.

There are over 750,000 registered vehicles in Chandigarh for a population of 1.1 million.

In 2009, 424 accident cases - on an average more than one accident every day - were registered. These included many hit-and-run cases and only 293 accident cases were worked out by police.

“We have tightened the noose around traffic rule violators by installing CCTV cameras at various points and deploying more traffic cops. We are also making utmost use of latest technology and gadgets. We are sure that the positive results of our initiatives will be before everyone in the next few months,” stated Doon.

The city was originally planned with wide and clean roads, for a population of only 500,000 residents, but now it accommodates over 1.1 million people.

“The rush on the city roads has increased manifold in the last five years. Driving a two-wheeler here is very dangerous as you cannot rely on the driving acumen of your fellow motorists,” said Gayatri Sharma, a retired government employee who has been residing in Chandigarh for the last 40 years.

Lajwant Virk, a lawyer, said: “Some people manage to procure driving licences without giving any driving test through unscrupulous means. Moreover, the administration has a long list of habitual offenders. Strict action should be taken against them and their driving licences should be cancelled immediately.”

(Alkesh Sharma can be contacted at alkesh.s@ians.in)