This will surprise you!! Many traffic cops in this city evade their duty and still get paid!!!
Those who have spent few months in Pune would probably relate to this opinion piece better. Besides earning a reputation as one of India’s IT hubs, the city is slowly attracting negative light because of its pathetic traffic management.
Due to poor public transport, most of the people prefer using two-wheelers. Every day, Pune RTO registers around 1,000 new vehicles. However, city’s infrastructure (roads, flyovers) remains inadequate. During peak hours, you may need two hours to travel just around 20 kilometers in Pune on your bike. Lawlessness on streets makes the overall experience horrible.
Blame the citizens
Top police officials from the city always wash their hands by blaming the citizens for indiscipline. Former top cops have also suggested that lack of manpower is the main reason behind the absence of traffic cops at main points in the city. No doubt that traffic department lacks manpower and following traffic rules should be people’s priority. But authorities cannot conceal the fact that certain part of their existing workforce is not performing their duty.
In order to complete their fine collection targets, traffic cops often wait in groups for ‘fishing’ at points that are few meters’ away from intersections in order to catch traffic signal offenders. These groups disappear after few hours and perhaps come back once they get their next challan targets.
Lack of enforcement for several years has made people undisciplined. Some citizens simply do not wish to wait at traffic signals. Arrogant ones do not hesitate to honk and abuse drivers who follow traffic rules and wait for the green light. Surprisingly, this is happening even when citizens know that cops can watch them because of CCTV cameras. Even public transport-PMPML’s buses are involved in traffic violations.
DG’s visit brought some relief for Pune in March
City’s traffic management was fine until Dr. Satyapal Singh was Pune’s Police Commissioner. Some cops simply stopped reporting on their allotted traffic junctions as soon as Meeran C Borwankar took over the top cop’s position in 2010. This mismanagement continued until early 2016.
Former DG of police, Praveen Dixit, was probably the first person to point out the problem in city’s traffic management back in March 2016.
Times of India’s report quoted him saying that some citizens from Pune take pride in breaking traffic rules. He cited drunk driving as one of the main concerns and said details about drunk drivers need to be published on social networking sites to deter people from breaking traffic rules.
Certain traffic cops not performing their duty
During the same month, city’s DCP (traffic) Sarang Awad surprised everyone by taking action against traffic cops who were not performing their duties. A report published in Indian Express on March 4 pointed out that 21 traffic cops from Pune were asked to pay a fine as they were not present on duty at the junctions allotted to them when DCP visited those spots.
Officers are allotted junctions to manage traffic and whenever they leave the spot they need to keep their seniors updated about the same. During the inspection, DCP found that some cops were not present at the junction allotted to them. Their cell phones were switched off during duty hours. Some of the missing ones did not even answer phone calls from the control room. All the guilty officials were forced to pay fines. This action brought some relief for the city that has earned a notorious reputation for traffic management.
Related: Action taken against 21 traffic cops in Pune
Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla’s approach towards traffic issues is worth appreciating
In April this year, the 1988 batch IPS officer took over the office as city’s top cop. She had highlighted solving Pune’s traffic issues as her main priority along with reducing crime. DCP Sarang Awad was replaced by young IPS officer Pravin Mundhe in May this year. Improvement in traffic management was clearly visible since these two took over. Most of the traffic signals were repaired; traffic cops started reporting at allotted spots, and action was taken against errant drivers.
Why not suspend traffic cops instead of wasting taxpayers’ money?
On November 21 and 22, DCP Mundhe organized a drive to check if traffic constables and officers are reporting for duty on time at the given spots. Senior officials visited various spots with duty sheet to cross-check.
Surprisingly, many of them did not report to work at allotted junctions, some reported late. Media reports suggest as many as 40 officers faced action. Mundhe shared the information that strict action has been taken against concerned officers who were found missing while rostered for duty. They were also marked absent.
Related: Surprise check catches traffic policemen on wrong foot
Unfortunately, Pune traffic police often blame the public for all the traffic problems and road accidental deaths. They refuse to share details about their own mismanagement and names of traffic constables who fail to perform their duties.
Everyone must appreciate this surprise inspection, but is there any data to pinpoint the number of days that these guilty traffic cops were evading their duty for? Perhaps, the answer is-No.
In case of sufficient evidence, city’s top cop and DCP for traffic should straight away consider dismissing errant traffic cops instead of letting them continue with their job by simply charging small penalties.
Infrastructure and public transport are factors that cannot be improved overnight. But the presence of traffic cops at every junction will make sure that undisciplined drivers keep their vehicles in control at least while passing from in front of the cops.