Traffic campaigns in #Ghaziabad lost on commuters

GHAZIABAD: Commuters in Ghaziabad are as unruly as ever, despite the regular campaigns to bring order to the city’s roads by the traffic department. The department has been running a campaign for the past several months to enforce traffic rules and guidelines in the city.

This correspondent has witnessed instances where minors were riding two-wheelers despite the presence of constables on duty in the vicinity. Riding of two-wheelers without helmets and talking on mobile phones while driving are also common sights. There have been instances of policemen themselves flouting the traffic rules by driving without helmets.

Traffic department officials said a new one-month traffic campaign – aimed at sensitization of the general public to rules and guidelines as well as to penalise offenders – has been launched from November 1. As part of this drive, the department has been undertaking traffic sensitization programmes in various schools of the district on a daily basis through four senior officials.

Ghaziabad SP (traffic) Amar Singh said shoolchildren were being taught to follow road safety rules while travelling. “We are also strictly discouraging driving without licence by minors as part of these sensitization programmes. The enforcement drive is being undertaken simultaneously with the help of cops at our disposal. So far this month, we have issued more than 30,000 challans and collected penalties of over Rs 25 lakh,” Amar Singh said.

According to data issued by the traffic department, in the past two days alone a total of 2,013 challans have been issued in the district for violations of various categories of traffic rules.

The department has collected Rs 1,84,900 as fines. These include violations by two-wheelers as well as four-wheelers for wrong-side driving, jumping of red lights, driving without seat belts, driving without licences and so on.

Residents said it was due to non-optimal utilization of the traffic police force in the city that has been leading to recurrent violations despite regular drives.

S K Kapoor, a resident, said there should be optimum utilization of the traffic cops through meticulous planning. “In addition, the number of cops in the department should be increased. But commuters have to bear the larger share of the blame for violation of rules. In the Trans-Hindon area, there are frequent traffic violations. However, unauthorized parking, particularly around malls in Indirapuram, and large-scale encroachments on roads in front of LIG colonies in the Kala Patthar area are reasons why people drive on wrong sides or enter no-entry zones,” Kapoor said.