KOLKATA: Over 800 prosecutions were reported on Sunday, the first day that Kolkata traffic police reintroduced spot fines. Out of a total of 1,046 prosecutions reported, over 80% were spot fines, stated police sources. The rest were citation cases. Though the numbers were half of the average prosecutions witnessed on city roads in the months of November and December, the top brass stated that the numbers were proof of the need for spot fines.
It was evident that there is still some dilemma in the mind of sergeants as far as prosecuting motorists and forwarding them to local police stations was concerned. Significantly, not a single vehicle was seized. “Most of the prosecutions dealt with traditional offences committed by two-wheeler riders like not wearing a helmet, triple-riding and speeding,” pointed out a police source.
In the absence of breathalyzer tests, there were just four drink-driving cases when compared to the average 20-25 cases per night. Dangerous driving cases were limited to 25.
A quick analysis of the Sunday data by Lalbazar has led the top brass to ask all traffic guards to pick up daily prosecution further in the next 48 hours. The traffic unit on Monday took stock of all traffic cops who have received the booster dose, asking each of the 25 guards to prepare their reports.
“While it will take a couple of days to go back to old routine, the fact remains that number of vehicles on Kolkata roads have gone down this month due to the Covid surge. We still have as many as 52 sergeants who were infected and a few of them are yet to join work. We expect a rise in prosecutions from Monday,” said a senior officer at Lalbazar.
Police sources said that for now, the maximum focus will be on dangerous driving. “We have found that the prosecutions under MV 184 and MV 185 are most effective in tracking major traffic violations. Following Supreme Court guidelines, we will concentrate on the same,” said an officer.
The commissioner of police Vineet Goyal held a video conference on Saturday with the senior officers and asked all traffic guards to restart spot fines along with citation cases. Joint CP (Traffic) Santosh Pandey then held video conferences with all OCs and ACPs asking them to begin checks but without compromising their security.
