Cops turn to gadgets to combat traffic

The city police has decided to place special focus on traffic management with the increase in VVIP movement in Vijayawada, which is emerging as a metropolis of Andhra Pradesh.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu along with Union and State ministers are making frequent visits to the city to take part in official programmes in the State.

The capital region is also coming up in thousands of acres within its vicinity. Consequently, vehicular traffic in the city and its suburbans are on the rise. All these factors have prompted the city police to give top priority to traffic management.

City Police Commissioner AB Venkateswara Rao on Wednesday said, “Police constables will be posted at about 100 centres in the city to regulate traffic effectively. About 250 police personnel will be deployed at busy road junctions.

They will man the traffic junctions in two shifts. As many as 26 enforcement teams have also been constituted for the purpose. Cops from the Armed Reserve (AR) have also been drafted for traffic management.”

The city police has embarked on ‘Contactless Law Enforcement’ initiative for effective regulation of traffic.“We have acquired as many as 150 digital cameras, which would be given to traffic constables, head constables and ASIs.

Cops manning the busy road junctions would capture the pictures of the traffic rule violators on the digital cameras. Based on the images, e-challan will be sent to the address of vehicle owners. Signal batons have also been procured for traffic constables,” the Police Commissioner said.

The penalties for various traffic rule violations have also been increased. A fine of Rs 1,000 will be imposed on a vehicle owner if he fails to produce the RC book during regular checks.

A vehicle rider has to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 if he does not have a driving licence, Rs 400 for overspeed, Rs 1,000 for cellphone driving, Rs 1,000 for any kind of unsafe driving and Rs 2,000 for non-renewal of vehicle registration. If the owner fails to furnish proof for ownership of the vehicle, it will be seized.

Another major problem in the city is lack of adequate number of parking places. Haphazard parking of vehicles on the busy roads is causing accidents some times.In this connection, Venkateswara Rao said, “Identification of parking places has become a herculean task for both the traffic police and the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).

We will form special teams soon to identify suitable parking places after conducting a survey in the city.Each team consists of police personnel and VMC employees. The demarcation of parking places at busy centres will be completed soon. Also, we are waiting for creation of hawker zones in the city by the VMC for public convenience.

The traffic management will be easy if street vendors are not allowed in certain busy areas. The roadside encroachments by vendors on major arteries are obstructing the free flow of vehicular traffic during peak hours.”

“Nobody has a right over public place. We have set up auto stands at a few places.Encroachment of the places by auto worker unions will not be tolerated. We are trying to ensure that public transportation is more safe and secure by focusing on effective traffic management,” he said.