Gurgaon: Over 20,000 challans issued to traffic violators on Zero Tolerance Day

The traffic police also raked in Rs 22.63 lakh in fines after issuing 20821 challans, the maximum of which were in west traffic zone, as per data collated by the department.

 The Gurgaon police held true to the name of its drive “ Zero Tolerance Day” and showed little mercy to traffic violators on Wednesday. Over 20,000 challans were issued to traffic violators during the drive.

Maximum tickets issued for wrong parking, wrong lane driving and driving without a helmet or seat belt. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The traffic police also raked in Rs 22.63 lakh in fines after issuing 20821 challans, the maximum of which were in west traffic zone, as per data collated by the department.

Normally, the city police issues challans to about 3,000 vehicles daily in Gurgaon. On Zero Tolerance Day, apart from traffic police, all police stations concerned also penalised violations in their jurisdiction.

As per the data, maximum tickets were issued for wrong parking (3,355), wrong lane driving (2,128), driving without helmet (4,804), driving without seat belt (3,317) as traffic police and teams from police stations went into an overdrive to ensure 100% compliance of traffic rules.

Transport experts said poor infrastructure design and bad road engineering was the reason that drivers in Gurgaon were motivated to violate traffic rules risking their lives as well as that of others. “Apart from engineering issues, which needs to be resolved, the quantum of policing and the quality and regularity of enforcement are lacking in the city,” said Amit Bhatt, director, WRI, India.

“If the city had a proper bus service, which has been promised by the authorities since the past several years, the number of vehicles on the roads would be lesser,” Bhatt said.

It is because of this reason that the city witnessed the maximum violations pertaining to wrong parking for which 3,355 challans were issued on Wednesday. The Delhi Gurgaon Expressway alone saw 401 tickets being issued to violators on account of wrong parking. Traffic police officials said they were keen to curb this menace as it was one of the major reasons for jams and accidents. The Delhi Gurgaon Expressway and the east zone also issued the maximum challans for wrong lane driving, which is also another reason for accidents, police said.

The city’s traffic police has around 350 active traffic personnel on the ground and the number is quite low as compared to the sanctioned staff.

Haryana DGP BS Sandhu, during an earlier visit to Gurgaon, had announced that more personnel would join the traffic police but that promise is come true.

Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said more manpower for traffic police has been requisitioned and the numbers would add up soon.

Traffic data also revealed some positive aspects as there were very few people fined for lack of driving licence and insurance papers or registration certificate.

Only 74 challans were issued to drivers for not having driving licence, whereas 110 challans were issued for vehicles not having valid pollution certificates.

Sixty-four vehicles were fined for failing to have valid insurance papers and just 25 were penalised for not having registration certificates. Only five were issued tickets for using mobile phones while driving.

“An amount of Rs 22.63 lakh was recovered as penalty from violators. The objective is to instil more discipline among drivers and to ensure that they follow rules. Wrong parking, wrong lane driving and driving without helmets are major issues that need to be tackled, ” said Ravinder Kumar, PRO, Gurgaon police.