Mumbai Police officers have been empowered to penalise drivers who flout traffic regulations in the city. The decision has been taken to ensure better enforcement of traffic rules in Mumbai.
In a notification issued last week, Joint Commissioner (Law and Order) Deven Bharti authorised all police stations across the city to carry out parallel drives along with the traffic police. Mumbai Police officers can now book motorists for traffic offences.
Mr. Bharti said, “The police team carrying out these drives will be accompanied with at least one traffic personnel.” Officers of Mumbai Police said that they had received orders from the Joint Commissioner to penalise errant drivers under the by-laws of the Maharashtra police manual.
A senior police officer said, “Any officer in uniform can penalise motorists for any unlawful activity. Based on this by-law, we have now been asked to carry out parallel drives.” The Mumbai traffic police has a total strength of 3,500. Of them, 3,300 are part of the constabulary. The Mumbai Police with its 50,000-strong constabulary will now fine drivers for traffic violations such as riding motorcycles with helmets, driving without wearing the seat belt, jumping the signal. The officer also said that fine collection has reduced as the e-challan system did not function owing to network or server failure.
Welcoming the move, Nitin Dossa of West India Automobile Association, said, “It is a good move and will keep in check rash drivers and traffic rule violators. They drive recklessly and cross dividers. More police officers on duty will ensure road mishaps are avoided.”
Zico Bahl, 21, a resident of Colaba, said, “The move will hopefully also curb corruption. It is easier to bribe traffic cops than Mumbai Police officers.” Nihar Nair, a Uber driver, said, “If empowering police officers results in bribery scams then it will be a futile exercise.” Harshal Patel, 23, a student from Borivali, said the Mumbai Police should be left alone and the Regional Transport Office must ensure strict compliance of rules. “The responsibilities should not be mixed up,” he added.
In March, the then traffic police chief wrote to his deputies asking them not to demand Pollution Under Control or vehicle insurance papers. He said, “There have been various instances of motorists and traffic police personnel getting into an argument. This is affecting the image of the traffic police.”
