More police to streamline traffic, reduce accidents

NASHIK: With an addition of 80 personnel to the city traffic department’s existing force of 185, residents can expect better policing on roads and also some respite from the perennial snarls and frequent accidents.
Senior police officers said the department recently got the additional force of 80, of whom 40 have been sent to Mumbai for an 11-day training on ways to manage vehicular traffic better.
“The main focus will be on ways to streamline the vehicular traffic and stop illegal parking. Stringent actions will be taken against autorickshaw drivers parking their vehicles away from designate stands at the busy junctions. We are also in communication with the civic administration to put up signboards, signals and rumblers, wherever necessary,” said Prashant Waghunde, the assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of the traffic department.
“Action will also be taken against autorickshaw drivers who will not wear uniform and badges. We will also crackdown on drivers operating without licence,” he added.
Autorickshaw drivers are often found operating without licences and badges in the city, particularly during night. There have also been instances of passengers being robbed by such drivers.
Traffic department officials said the Dwarka junction, Central Bus Stand (CBS), Raviwar Karanja, Mumbai Naka and Indiranagar were some points where residents suffered the most because of traffic congestion. “Once the added force is in place, more police personnel will be deployed in such places to streamline traffic,” an official said.
The city traffic police had proposed a list of road signals at 16 points in the past, of which signals have been sanctioned at Old Gangapur Naka, Tarwalanagar Chowk, New Market Yard at Peth Raod, Rau Hotel along Peth Raod, Kranti Nagar at Makhmalabad Road, Panchavati, Vaidyanath Chowk on College Road and Trimurti Chowk in Cidco.
ACP Waghunde said the signal at Old Gangapur Naka has become operational, while the work of the signal at Trimurti Chowk has been taken up. “We have appealed to the civic officials to complete the work of the proposed signals at the earliest,” he added.
The police have been complaining of staff crunch to manage the traffic. When it had a sanctioned strength of 284 traffic cops, it had only 185 traffic constables divided into two shifts. The force on the roads dropped further on account of sick leaves, casual leaves and other factors.
The traffic police have, in the meantime, decided to increase the zebra patrol teams to 12 from the exisiting seven. The zebra teams comprise two traffic personnel each moving in their designated area with wireless communication equipment. During a traffic congestion, when a personnel deployed at a certain point cannot leave that area, the Zebra teams are rushed to the particular point to streamline the traffic.