#TrafficDiscipline: Good Work Pune Police- Keep The Heat On

driving wrongside
Image used for representation only

 

Pune’s traffic has become a perennial source of agony for citizens and the Police alike.

Our penchant for ignoring every basic traffic norm further compounds the problem that the city has to deal with on a daily bases. The Pune Police are now attempting to take the bull by its horns and have initiated a series of drives to rein in the errant drivers and riders.

While some of them have yielded commendable results, citizens and activists believe the solution is in staying focused to these objectives and make them ongoing to be able to positively impact the situation.

Pune 365 spoke to informed citizens and activists who share some of the immediate concerns that the police department need to focus on while keeping the heat on the measures adopted over the past few months. 

Shantanu Sashrabudhe, City activist says, “The basic road safety and discipline protocols  like using a helmet, abiding by the signal and keeping to your lane are just not followed by citizens.

Although the Pune city Police have been acting proactively, their drives often lose impact for not being ongoing.

They start with several initiatives, but none get successfully implemented in the city because soon citizens end up ignoring it after a while. It is critical that these initiatives are all made ongoing. 

Shantanu further adds that another important concern that ought to be looked at is the use of high beam lights. This is despite the city having street lights all over. This increases the risk of accidents, as it blinds the oncoming driver for a few seconds which is enough to cause serious damage.

Gargi Ghosal, Journalist says, “The irritating sound of the horns fitted on the vehicles makes it difficult to concentrate while driving or riding.

Chaos is created by these horns and it also has the potential to disturb your nights sleep and deprive you of peace. It often affects patients, children and senior citizens. 

Reverses horns, horns with loud and shrill sounds are illegal, yet, people pay to get these horns installed in their vehicles.

Such horns are repeatedly used in the city, RTO and traffic police should prohibit the garages and the car accessory stores from selling and fitting them.

A Horn Not Ok drive carried out in the city Ghosal added.

Mahesh Mankame, Active Citizen says, “Every day a new drive is initiated ignoring the basic traffic rules which are itself not adhered to by our smart city.

While the city is implementing new drives, they should proactively act stay focussed on the earlier ones and all the violations.

Another important issue is the tinted glasses on cars which must be banned. Recalling an incident, Mahesh says, a baby was kept inside the car, with the AC on while the mother was busy buying vegetables in the market. Fortunately, the baby was safe, but no passerby was aware of the baby in the car because of the tinted glass.

In Pune every third car has a tinted glass, and no action is taken against them and if taken, it is not effective. But if were to look at Mumbai, not a single car is seen with a tinted glass, apart from the cars of political leaders and officers, that to for security reasons, Mahesh added.

Dhwani Shah, Lawyer says “Do you how high the emission levels are every day? Try stopping near a PMPML bus and you will experience this first hand. Air pollution is an ever increasing issue in the city and is greatly caused by the vehicle emission.

Recently the government had ordered that public vehicles that are over 20 years old should not be used, yet, no action is being taken against these PMPML buses. It is also important that the same policy should be implemented for private vehicles, Shah added.

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Ankita Malekar