By Sahil Makkar, IANS
New Delhi : Here’s a set of surprising statistics: in the past decade, the number of vehicles in the Indian capital has almost tripled, but there has been no addition to the strength of traffic police personnel.
Officials complain this is one of the major reasons behind the capital’s traffic worries.
“We are operating with the same strength of just 3,000 traffic personnel, which was sanctioned to us in 1998,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Qamar Ahmed told IANS.
“Though the number of vehicles has gone up three-fold, there has been no addition to our strength. How do you think we will be able to manage such a mammoth growth and crack down on traffic violators?” Ahmed complained.
From a little over two million vehicles plying on the capital’s roads a decade ago, the number has escalated to more than five million vehicles in Delhi alone. Besides, over one million vehicles enter the capital from its satellite towns like Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.
“Do you know most of our personnel work for almost 15 hours a day? How much can I stretch them…? It’s not humanly possible to stand on the city roads for longer than that,” the joint commissioner said.
The traffic policemen are subjected to severe health hazards from overexposure to dust, smoke and other vehicular pollution.
Adds Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic) M.S. Upadhye, “Despite the staff and inadequate resources, we manage to prosecute at least 8,000 traffic violators every day. It’s an achievement that our prosecution rate has never declined.”
Taking note of the gravity of the situation, the Delhi High Court had also directed the authorities concerned to implement traffic laws more severely.
“With an immense influx of light and heavy vehicle traffic, with tremendous increase in the population of Delhi, the roads have become increasingly dangerous to human life,” a bench led by the Justice Swatanter Kumar had said.
The high court had directed that the minimum fine for traffic offences be raised from Rs.100 to Rs.600 by adding Rs.500 as compounding fee from April 9.
Asked about the traffic police drive launched after the high court’s directions five months ago, Upadhye said no drive could be sustained for more than two days.
In spite of the increased fine, the court rebuff and the state government assurance, Delhi roads continue to be unsafe for commuters.
According to Delhi Police, at least 60 innocent lives have been crushed under the wheels of rogue private Blueline buses, state-run Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) buses and heavy commercial vehicles that ply on the city roads after the court directions came into effect.
Many others died due to the poor condition of the roads and lack of other mandatory infrastructure like traffic signals and streetlights.
Traffic officials blame civic bodies and lack of adequate resources for the hapless situation.
“Our prime focus is to control and regulate traffic on the city roads. It is also the state transport department’s responsibility to check the fitness and condition of vehicles,” Ahmed rued.
However, former joint commissioner of police and traffic expert Maxwell Pereira said while roads may be unsafe due to reasons like the absence of sign boards, lights and patrolling, “enforcement of laws in a better way is all that is required.”