#MustHave: Next Time You Break A Traffic Rule, Be Prepared To Sweep The Road!

The worldwide frenzy for #KIKIchallenge unfortunately continues unabated despite the risk…

In yet another insane attempt,  a video posted on Youtube showed a couple of youngsters taking this challenge on a railway platform while the train was moving.

The video got the attention of Railway Protection Force, who later tracked down the youths and produced them before the railway court at Vasai.

In a novel judgement, the court ordered them to clean up the Vasai Railway Station for three consecutive days. Additionally, they were also asked to spread awareness about such a dangerous challenge.

We at Pune365 applaud the court for this innovative punishment meted out and believe that such novel punishments can actually help control traffic violations in our city!

Public shaming and getting the offenders to promote awareness can certainly help Pune Police rein in the errant drivers and riders of the city:  

Jaya Banerjee, Social Activist says, The Palghar court punishment is most definitely innovative. I think a lot of people get carried away often with social media challenges and activities.

If we did the same to Traffic violators in Pune, we will have a cleaner Pune for sure, and also have more people to campaign about traffic violations. Swach Pune, Savdhaan Pune.

It may obviously be difficult to implement, but if traffic violators were made to clean public roads and campaigned to adhere to traffic rules, it may really work, Banerjee adds.

Neha Pansare, Nutritionist says, “It is necessary to understand the traffic situation of our city.

Violations have become a habit and Pune Police must try and implement this punishment and also make the offenders help man traffic for a week along with the police men.

This way they will understand how important it is to follow the rule and how difficult it becomes to manage traffic if citizens keep violating them.”

Campaign released by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India.

Citizens don’t follow the basic traffic rules, how will traffic cops ensure that they clean the area? It is like adding more work for them, says Arvind Maskar, a government official.

Pune Traffic Police have been trying different initiatives, however asking them to clean the city isn’t sufficient, some citizens are way too shameless. Besides that, it could again lead to corruption, Maskar added.

Aakash Dalvi, Entrepreneur opines “Public shaming has always worked best for getting things in place.

Pune has ranked first in ease of living, but is it actually so? The city doesn’t have the basic capability to handle the traffic and our citizens have no common sense either!

It ought to be simple enough to understand that traffic rules are made for our safety. “Thousands of traffic rules are written in the rulebook and the punishments are a fine or jail but even that seems to be going in vain now.

We need effective campaigns, ads, posters, social experiments and public shaming for violating the rule.

Once this is in place, we can adapt the Palghar court initiative and have violators clean roads, segregate the waste etc. They can also think of incentivising policemen for nabbing the offenders. This will also help avoid any scope for corruption, adds Dalvi

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#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.