Road Safety Week eyewash in Mohali

Tribune News Service
Mohali, February 6

Road Safety Week being observed by the Mohali traffic wing appears to be eyewash as glaring traffic violations can be seen all around here anytime.

During a random survey, The Tribune team found several vehicles parked along roads at various points. Such violations could be seen on roads in front of markets and roads in front of some private hospitals here.

Though traffic cops have been deployed at certain traffic light points, they seem to be least bothered about traffic violators, here.

“You can see people jumping red light at any traffic light point despite the presence of traffic cops here. Cops do not stop any such violator. Most of them can be seen busy on their mobile phones instead of checking traffic violations,” said Prabhdeep Singh, a local resident.

Senior citizen Swaran Chowdhary, who is a traffic marshal here, said the objective behind observing Road Safety Week was to make people aware of traffic rules and their safety.

“See the casual approach of the police as nobody from their side informed us (traffic marshals) about the event. They did not call us, invite us or involve us in the event,” said Chowdhary.

A senior official of the Mohali police said traffic violators were being counselled by the cops at various points.

“We are issuing challans to offenders. We (Mohali police) are facing a severe staff shortage. The number of traffic cops in the entire district is just around 140. With such a meagre number of traffic cops, one can easily imagine how difficult it is to manage traffic here,” said the official.

Random survey

During a random survey, The Tribune team found several vehicles parked along roads at various points. Such violations could be seen on roads in front of markets and roads in front of some private hospitals here. Though traffic cops have been deployed at certain traffic light points, they seem to be least bothered about traffic violators, here.