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Right signal to wrong-doers

Santosh Patnaik

Ganjam SP adopts a two-pronged approach - first, inculcate traffic sense among people and penalise violators.

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

ACTING TOUGH: A policeman deflating tyres of a wrongly-parked motorcycle on Aska road.

BERHAMPUR: To restore order in parking of vehicles for better traffic management, SP Dayal Gangwar has hit upon a novel idea. `Hawa Chado' (removing air from vehicle tyres) was the directive passed by him to his subordinates when he took charge on October 5. As a fallout, traffic sense is slowly developing among people.

Anguished by the free-for-all parking in various areas obstructing free flow of traffic, Mr. Gangwar thought that deflating tyres of vehicles parked on the wrong side would send the right signal.

As they (traffic violators) have to take the strain of getting air filled to the tyres, they had to spend at least half-an-hour to make their vehicles fit to drive. "I have adopted a two-pronged approach. First inculcate a traffic sense among people and later penalise them if they continue to commit traffic laws," Mr. Gangwar told The Hindu on Friday.

Four zones

Mr. Gangwar has divided the city into four zones for effective enforcement of traffic laws. Motorcycle squads each comprising one SI, four ASIs and a constable have been deployed on 24-hour duty on shifts. A mobile squad headed by a CI will also be on the job to oversee traffic management. The SP and Sub-Divisional Police Officer Nitinjit Singh conduct inspections now and then.

"Despite shortage of staff, I wanted to ensure orderly traffic as the priority area. I have also spoken to the authorities of Berhampur Municipality and Berhampur Development Authority on exploring various options for providing parking lots at busy junctions," he disclosed. Awareness as part of drive to sensitise people, policemen are announcing dos and don'ts on traffic at various junctions on public address system. There is a proposal to hold meetings at various colleges to educate youngsters on how to observe traffic laws.

Efforts are being made to control traffic snarl being caused by movement of buffaloes and stray cattle on main thoroughfares.

Next step

Sources said the next step would be to remove encroachments. Berhampur, being the business hub of South Orissa, has several pavement shops blocking both sides of the Bodobazar, Gatebazar, Hanuman bazaar, Komapally and other areas. Police are also checking various vehicles and so far imposed a penalty of Rs.2.20 lakhs from people for not having valid licences, C-books and other required documents.

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Right signal to wrong-doers

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