Punjab to bifurcate traffic police
Vinod Kumar | TNN | Updated: Mar 19, 2019, 05:39 IST
Representative imageCHANDIGARH: The Punjab government plans to bifurcate traffic police into two wings — management and enforcement — as part of a slew of measures to curb increasing number of fatal road accidents in the state.
In last eight years, 13 people on an average were killed daily in road accidents across Punjab, pushing the state government to take corrective steps under Mission Tandrust Punjab. From 2011 to 2018, as many as 37,812 people lost their lives in road accidents in Punjab, with highest number of 5,077 fatalities recorded in 2016, followed by 4,604 in 2018 and 4,278 in 2017.
This data reveals that majority of fatal accidents occurred between 6pm to 11.30pm, when no traffic cops are on duty. At present, traffic police operate during normal office hours — up to 6pm.
To increase the presence of traffic personnel for a longer period on roads and for effective traffic management and enforcement of traffic rules, traffic department will be divided into two wings and each wing will work in two shifts. One wing will work from 8am to 6pm and the other from 5pm till 12midnight. The duties of both the wings will be interchanged on a weekly basis using a transparent mechanism. The plan will be discussed during a meeting of the Tandrust Punjab Mission scheduled to be held on Tuesday.
Mission Tandrust Punjab director KS Pannu said an action plan has been drawn in consultation with ADGP (traffic) SS Chauhan, traffic adviser Navdeep Asija and other stakeholders. “Bringing down the number of fatal accidents is on top of our priority and we are working on it,” said Pannu.
Taking a serious note of the high rate of fatal accidents in the state, Punjab and Haryana high court had directed the government to create new posts and ensure smooth functioning of traffic police, following which the Punjab director-general of police in 2015 had urged the state government to create 3,815 new posts. Three years later, the state government is yet to take a decision on creating new posts. The present strength of traffic police in Punjab is 1,917.
The demand for sanction of new posts has again been put up before the state government by the police. As an alternative, the traffic police have urged immediate transfer of police officers from other wings to traffic department.
As faulty road design and condition are one of the major causes of accidents, each district will have a chief engineer for road safety and will be entrusted with responsibility of regularly monitoring roads to identify black spots and take corrective steps. One executive engineer (XEN) in each district will be designated road safety engineer and will have to work in close coordination with traffic police, National Highways Authority of India, works department and Vision Zero accident team.
The Punjab government has also decided to appoint 12 motor vehicle engineers to conduct audit of major accident-prone roads in the state.
In last eight years, 13 people on an average were killed daily in road accidents across Punjab, pushing the state government to take corrective steps under Mission Tandrust Punjab. From 2011 to 2018, as many as 37,812 people lost their lives in road accidents in Punjab, with highest number of 5,077 fatalities recorded in 2016, followed by 4,604 in 2018 and 4,278 in 2017.
This data reveals that majority of fatal accidents occurred between 6pm to 11.30pm, when no traffic cops are on duty. At present, traffic police operate during normal office hours — up to 6pm.
To increase the presence of traffic personnel for a longer period on roads and for effective traffic management and enforcement of traffic rules, traffic department will be divided into two wings and each wing will work in two shifts. One wing will work from 8am to 6pm and the other from 5pm till 12midnight. The duties of both the wings will be interchanged on a weekly basis using a transparent mechanism. The plan will be discussed during a meeting of the Tandrust Punjab Mission scheduled to be held on Tuesday.
Mission Tandrust Punjab director KS Pannu said an action plan has been drawn in consultation with ADGP (traffic) SS Chauhan, traffic adviser Navdeep Asija and other stakeholders. “Bringing down the number of fatal accidents is on top of our priority and we are working on it,” said Pannu.
Taking a serious note of the high rate of fatal accidents in the state, Punjab and Haryana high court had directed the government to create new posts and ensure smooth functioning of traffic police, following which the Punjab director-general of police in 2015 had urged the state government to create 3,815 new posts. Three years later, the state government is yet to take a decision on creating new posts. The present strength of traffic police in Punjab is 1,917.
The demand for sanction of new posts has again been put up before the state government by the police. As an alternative, the traffic police have urged immediate transfer of police officers from other wings to traffic department.
As faulty road design and condition are one of the major causes of accidents, each district will have a chief engineer for road safety and will be entrusted with responsibility of regularly monitoring roads to identify black spots and take corrective steps. One executive engineer (XEN) in each district will be designated road safety engineer and will have to work in close coordination with traffic police, National Highways Authority of India, works department and Vision Zero accident team.
The Punjab government has also decided to appoint 12 motor vehicle engineers to conduct audit of major accident-prone roads in the state.
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