Relentless prosecution aided by sparse traffic sent prosecution figures soaring on the second day of the odd-even scheme on Saturday.
Drivers – especially auto rickshaws that either refused potential fares, refused to run by meters or both – were issued fines for non-compliance with the anti-pollution experiment’s guidelines despite visibly less police deployment. The 'Apsara' border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, which saw rather heavy deployment of Delhi Police and Delhi Traffic Police personnel on Friday, the day one of the odd-even plan, saw minimal number of police personnel on day two.
The border is an important connecting point for traffic between Ghaziabad and north and northeast Delhi. On Friday, Delhi Traffic Police personnel kept a keen eye on cars coming in from Ghaziabad and stopped them even though they were not penalised and a team of Delhi Police and Delhi Civil Defence personnel kept a watch on vehicles coming from Anand Vihar side and turning left towards Shahdara.
On Saturday, however, no police deployment could be noticed on this busy stretch. Also missing on Saturday were the large number of volunteers holding placards to make motorists aware of the need to curb pollution.
In Noida, a handful of school children, who had signed up as volunteers to generate awareness related to the scheme, could be seen huddled in a corner even as police presence remained questionably absent.
Despite their seeming absence, however, the Delhi Traffic Police and officials from the Delhi government departments ended up nearly doubling the number of fines issued to violators.
While the total number of private vehicle drivers issued challans by the traffic police jumped from 138 to 229, the Transport Department said it fined 47 cars as opposed to none on Friday even as 208 auto rickshaw drivers were issued fines for refusal to ply and not using their meters compared to just 64 on Friday.
A senior government official attributed the significant jump in prosecution figures to incessant reports alleging that the Capital’s auto rickshaw drivers had refused to comply with repeated requests against overcharging and similar complaints.
The Transport Department said 20 complaints against auto rickshaw drivers, 11 related to buses, and three related to gramin sewas culminated in around 35 complaints of irregular behaviour exhibited by drivers of government-authorised vehicles till 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Sources in the police and the government said enforcement teams were now bracing for Monday when the Capital was expected to officially confront a consolidated rush of private vehicles that contributes to characteristic Delhi congestion and traffic snarls on arterial routes.
