Public demand for resumption of traffic police drive to tow away wrongly-parked vehicles, which had made people heave a sigh of relief, has made authorities resume the drive that had otherwise been suspended for a month.
People requested authorities through social networking site Facebook as well as phones to resume the drive, which had made smooth traffic flow possible on city roads.
After a nod from the authorities, traffic wing of Ludhiana police resumed the drive on Saturday noon, barely three days after it was suspended.
Seven recovery and tow-away vans were pressed into service, which took away around 16 vehicles found parked wrongly in various roads.
The drive was suspended for a month from last Tuesday onwards, following an application under Right to Information Act filed by a city resident to seek information on recovery vans deployed for tow-away drive.
It was learnt that since the number of recovery vans were falling short of the requirement, police authorities were making efforts to arrange hydraulic recovery vans for which tenders have been floated.
According to traffic inspector Beant Juneja, police had intimated local residents about the suspension of the tow-away drive on Facebook, after which they urged for its resumption since they have apparently witnessed its benefits on the road.
"People flooded us with requests through Internet and phone. Eventually, top officials decided to resume the drive. Taking no time once orders were received from senior officials, we pressed recovery vans into action," he said.
According to traffic inspector Beant Juneja, police had intimated local residents about the suspension of the tow-away drive on Facebook, after which they urged for its resumption since they have apparently witnessed its benefits on the road.
"People flooded us with requests through Internet and phone. Eventually, top officials decided to resume the drive. Taking no time once orders were received from senior officials, we pressed recovery vans into action," he said.
"The traffic wing has two recovery vehicles and has hired five more. We are trying to get sophisticated recovery vehicles, but will manage with those available till we get more," he added.
Some local residents had earlier accused police of adopting pick-and-choose policy during the tow-away drive.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ludhiana traffic police move to suspend the drive had again led to chaos since people had begun recklessly parking their four and two-wheelers on roads.
Cars and two-wheelers could be seen haphazardly parked on Ferozepur Road, Pakhowal Road, Mall Road, Ghumar Mandi and other areas.
City residents, who were happy with the "streamlined" traffic flow in Ludhiana due to tow-away drive, are expressing opposition to the police move to suspend it. The police had launched the drive in February last. The recovery vehicles had towed away four-wheelers of officers, politicians and VIPs, sending out a strong message to the public that no one would be spared for wrong parking and stationing vehicles in no-parking zones.