410 cops, extra nakas to curb year-end road fatalities in Chandigarh

As the year is coming to a close, those going to year-end parties should be aware as the traffic police in the city are planning to double up their numbers and are organising a special drive against life-threatening offences like speeding, drunken driving, riding without a helmet and jumping red-lights to keep the number of fatalities to a minimum.

As per records, 90 fatalities have already taken place in 86 accidents this year, five more than what was anticipated by the traffic police. Speaking about this, deputy superintendent of police (DSP, traffic administration) Kewal Krishan said, “We would have liked to meet our target but now we plan to keep the number lower than last year’s. Nakas to check traffic are being set up everyday. The number has also been increased with around six nakas put up at various locations to check for drunken driving, which are being increased day-by-day. We are issuing about 500 challans a day during this period.”

Officials said that nakas are also being put up at some of the busiest intersections to check speeding, the most common cause of fatal accidents in 2018, while last minute bugs related to power supply in the driver feedback systems to be installed at six locations in the city are being fixed.

The traffic police also plan to roll-out speeding radars that also work at night within the month. At drunken driving nakas as well, new breathalyzers will be rolled out, which will click a picture of the driver while measuring his or her alcohol percentage.

Traffic police officials said that leaves were being given to only those with genuine emergencies, and most major intersections including all black spots have the deployment of at least two cops throughout the day.

As per sources, senior superintendent of police (SSP, traffic) Shashank Anand has made a passionate appeal to all traffic police personnel to treat every fatality as not just a number but as the loss of a loved one, and to be extra vigilant as the year comes to an end.

Chief traffic marshal wing commander (retd) CS Grewal added that the traffic marshals were all busy with naka duties, and the number of nakas being put up will be increased in coming days as Christmas draws close.

NOT SURPASSING LAST YEAR’S NUMBERS

In 2018, by bringing it down to 98, the traffic police were able to bring down fatalities to double digits for the first time since 1988 as per the records of fatal accident related FIRs with the Chandigarh police.

Last year, 410 cops were deployed on New Year’s Eve. Around 20 drunken driving nakas were put up, 205 challans were issued for drunken driving on New Year’s Eve, while 23 challans were issued for drunken driving on Christmas.

This year too, the same number of cops will be deployed on New Year’s Eve, while around 50 cops are being deployed for duty everyday at the moment, before the peak of the holiday season.