Chennai: Traffic cops earn Rs 4 cr

HoneY

MaaPeya Da LaaDLa
9 May 2008

Earning themselves a zero-tolerance reputation is also earning the city police a great deal of revenue. The Chennai City Traffic Police (CCTP) has collected a record Rs four crore in four months — from January to April this year — while cracking down on traffic violations.

That's a 40% increase in collection compared to the corresponding period last year. Last year, between January and April, police collected only Rs 2.8 crore. The department has also sent out fine challans to 35,000 defaulters — and is expecting to rake in another Rs one crore.

Chennai recorded the most number of road accidents in 2007. With 8680 road accidents last year, Chennai topped the list for having the deadliest roads in the country, according to figures recently released by the Union home ministry. Chennai also has the highest two-wheeler vehicle populution in the country.

In a bid to bring erring road users to book, traffic lights now function round-the-clock at 34 major junctions in the city, including Anna Salai, Inner Ring Road, Periyar EVR High Road and near Madhya Kailash on Sardar Vallabhai Patel Road.

Sources said blinking lights had been replaced by regular lights even at night as there were more vehicles on the road and the possibilities of accidents had increased. Regular signal lights had been introduced to reduce accidents and a special team had been formed to book signal violators.

"At least 106 people have been booked for jumping traffic signals at night. Nearly 100 traffic police personnel, including inspectors and sub-inspectors, have been posted at these signals to regulate traffic and monitor traffic violations in the city," a senior police officer in the traffic wing told The Times Of India.

Police have sent fine challans to people booked for traffic violations on Wednesday. They have been asked to pay their fines within a week. "We plan to produce them before the magistrate’s court if they fail to pay the fine," the officer said. Over 50,000 traffic jumpers were booked over the past 20 months, sources said.
 
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