Q. With the increasing number of cars in Delhi, traffic has become a major problem in the city. What vision does the Delhi Police have for improving the traffic management system in Delhi?
A. The vision for Delhi Traffic police is to have an efficient and smooth traffic management system along with zero tolerance for accidental death on roads. As managers of traffic, we also realise that we are at the tip of the sphere of the machinery for enforcement of traffic laws by the traffic management officers. But we are not the custodians of all the resources that can solve the problems. I do not have engineering capability, I do not have any space on the table for town planning as there are different departments in the government that do so. If I want something to be done somewhere, I will have to write to the road owning agency and they will likewise do the needful. There are many problems for which we initiate solutions and the solving has to be done by the stakeholder that has the engineering capacity. We are aware of the limitations of such arrangements and the government has entrusted upon us the functional responsibility of prosecution of traffic offences, which is our main domain apart from ensuring road safety, which we take forward through our own initiative. In terms of vision, we would like more efficient, smooth and accident free movement of persons and vehicles across Delhi and for this, we need to work closely with our stakeholders who have the capacity to take it forward through planning.
Q. But, how do you think the traffic flow in Delhi can be improved?
A. Delhi has around 33,000 km of road space. This covers 335 sq km of the land of Delhi. In terms of planning, there is marginal space left that can be made available for roads given our present set up. However, the stakeholders will make improvements from time to time. But, whatever additional roads are going to be made will be marginal while cars will keep on increasing. Therefore, the idea is to manage the land space available better. We can create additional road space by either going underground or creating flyovers. The ultimate solution is to have a mass rapid public transport system so that people do not have to use their own vehicles.
Q. What are the newer technologies that Delhi Traffic police are looking at to make traffic policing more efficient and modernised?
A. The Delhi police already has some technological interventions as far as traffic is concerned. We already have an e-challan system in place, but we will soon bring in a 4G enabled e-challan system and online payments for traffic challans. We also have deployed some body-worn cameras to our traffic personnel on the ground. We also have “interceptors”, and these are vehicles fitted with cameras which can help us with speed checking on the roads. We also have certain projects that we want to introduce to bring in more state-of-the-art technologies for integrated and intelligent traffic management system. The different components of these systems include automatic violation detection cameras, speed check cameras that would be mounted on the roadside to nab and prosecute any vehicle that has been violating traffic laws. Apart from this, Delhi Traffic police is also using social media for informing road users about any traffic congestion or obstruction and we would also request all road users to connect to us through Twitter to inform us about any traffic violation.
Q. Red light jumping, drunken driving, over speeding are some major traffic problems that Delhi sees on its roads every day. What is the Delhi Police doing to ensure such offences are brought down?
A. We have drives from time to time in which we prosecute people for such offences. Drunk and dangerous driving are very serious offences, even using mobile phones while driving and driving without a licence are different categories of offences for which we have regular drives and our prosecutions have been focused on such offences. The use of the speed detection camera and red-light violation camera at important points will also enable us to keep a watch and prosecute all violations. To begin with, we have already identified 170 such locations which will have such cameras.
Q. Delhi Traffic Police have a shortage of manpower vis-à-vis the increasing number of cars on the roads. How is the Delhi police managing with such limited resources?
A. We only have 5,600 traffic police personnel and have to make the best use of our limited resources. The Delhi Traffic Police executes multifarious duties—from prosecution, which needs to be done on the ground, to the management of traffic movement, and everything requires deployment of people. We use the system of prioritisation in terms of deployment of our forces and we often juggle priorities as and when it requires because of our limited resources. Some of the technological intervention and additions would also act as a force multiplier for the improvement of traffic in Delhi. However, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has established six task forces. These are going to look at 68 congested corridors as identified for the smooth flow of traffic. Members of these task forces have engineering capacities and would thus help us with streamlining the flow of traffic and for this, we are thankful to the LG.
Q. Illegal parking is another major issue in Delhi and often the primary reason for traffic jams. How is Delhi Traffic police addressing this issue?
A. It is a major problem in Delhi as these one crore plus cars in Delhi, ultimately parked on the surface. The government is working and I must give credit to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi for this as they want to have a comprehensive parking policy for Delhi and for that, certain work has already been started. Delhi traffic police has also been asked to give their comments, as we are also a stakeholder to the project for which we have already given our comments. The land owning agencies and the town planners need to come up with policies to dis-incentivise the use of private cars and incentivise the use of multi-level parking. We are only there to enforce in case of parking violation and we really don’t have any say in the mechanism of parking.
Q. Delhi Traffic Police is often accused of lack of integrity and probity in public life. How do you ensure that traffic laws are enforced in their true spirit and offenders are not let away?
A. Laws have to be implemented strictly and every person should abide by the law. Every person is equal before the law and that is the spirit in which we implement the traffic laws for prosecution. Having said that, I know we are dealing with humans when looking at our traffic unit. There are all types of humans—good and bad—in every profession. My authority is to ensure integrity of our policemen and if there are any complaints, it is taken seriously and appropriate action is taken to punish the wrongdoer. We also request people to use social media to bring to our notice any such offence. We will investigate all such complaints and prosecute offenders.