More traffic violation cases booked in Ramnad in 2017

But number of fatal accidents goes up marginally

RAMANATHAPURAM

Stepping up the drive against traffic violations, the district police had registered 3.67 lakh cases, mostly for over-speeding, not wearing helmets and seat belts, and drunk driving in 2017. The total fine amount collected for the violations was ₹3.98 crore.

Acting on the orders of Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena, the district police launched a special drive to reduce fatal accidents on the one hand and conducted a series of traffic awareness programmes on the other. However, the number of persons killed in accidents dropped only marginally from 303 in 2016 to 295 in 2017.

The police conducted 2,879 traffic awareness programmes to reduce road accidents, but the number of fatal accidents went slightly up and non-fatal accidents only marginally down. The district witnessed 275 fatal and 720 non-fatal accidents in 2017 compared to 267 fatal 730 non-fatal accidents in 2016.

The number of cases booked for speeding, signal jumping, using mobile phones while driving, drunk driving, overloading of goods carriers and carrying of passengers in goods carriers during 2017 jumped to 17,654 from 8,133 during 2016, and cases for not wearing helmet and seat belt went up to 2,26,134 from 1,20,522, the SP said.

The district police registered 10,108 FIRs during 2017 as against 10,909 registered during 2016. Thanks to sustained campaign, crimes against women were reduced drastically from 449 in 2016 to 253 in 2017, he said.

There had also been reduction in the number of grave crimes from 118 in 2016 to 106 in 2017, though the district reported 33 murders, including three murders for gain, in 2017 compared to 30 recorded in 2016, he said.

The police were on their toes during 2017 right from January as a host of VIPs visited the district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Rameswaram to inaugurate ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam National Memorial’ on July 27, and President Ramnath Kovind made a brief visit to the island on December 23.

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his Cabinet colleagues visited the district on November 25 to address the MGR centenary celebrations. Former Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Puducherry Governor Kiran Bedi, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Pon. Radhakrishnan were among the VIP who visited the district in 2017.