The Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has detected 2,184 traffic rule violations and netted over ₹2 lakh as fine in the district over the past three months under its project, Third Eye.
Though the project was initially undertaken by the Ernakulam Regional Transport Office, it was later expanded across the district.
Motor Vehicle Inspectors who are part of the enforcement drive are armed with cameras to grab photographs of violations. Members of the public can also be part of the project and send images of traffic violations, captured even on their mobile phones, to the email id, rtoekm@gmail.com
The image should clearly bring out the nature of the offence and show the registration number of the vehicle concerned. However, public participation has been on the wane of late. The Department plans to revamp the campaign to give it a fresh impetus and to increase public participation.
“We will focus on improving public participation in the second half of February. As soon as Sabarimala duty was over, our officers were drafted in for various training programmes and will be back by February 15,” said Ernakulam Regional Transport Officer P.H. Sadik Ali.
The Department has availed of the service of a Kudumbasree member to generate notices based on photographic evidence. “Those neglecting the notice will be denied the Department’s services until they clear the fine,” Mr. Ali said. Most images are of two-wheeler riders driving without helmets or talking on their phones. “The project has a surprise element about it as offenders are never stopped in their tracks by uniformed officers, giving them the impression that the offence has gone unnoticed. It is only when they receive the notice that they realise that it was not the case,” Mr. Ali said.
The project, a brainchild of Motor Vehicle Inspector B. Shefiq, was introduced in Ernakulam RTO limits a couple of years ago by roping in 60 National Service Scheme volunteers of the Cochin University of Science and Technology. The volunteers generated over 250 clicks from 13 arterials roads and reported as many as 303 traffic offences in just about 22 days.
