Police identify 38 spots most prone to wrong-side driving in Gurugram

Gurugram: Gurugram traffic police submitted a list of 38 locations where the most number of wrong-side driving violations take place to the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) last week and asked them to install CCTV cameras there, officials said on Wednesday.

The list includes prominent locations such as Hero Honda Chowk, Iffco Chowk, MDI Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Subhash Chowk, Bristol Chowk, AIT Chowk, Hamilton Court Road, and Vyapar Kendra Road, they added.

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Ravinder Singh Tomar said they identified the 38 points after analysing data on wrong-side driving violations as well as taking into account feedback from traffic marshalls on ground. He said that once the CCTV cameras are operational and linked to the traffic tower in Sushant Lok 1, these points will be monitored 24x7, and accordingly, e-challans will be issued to violators.

“We compiled a list of 38 locations and submitted it to GMDA last week, and asked them to install CCTV cameras there. Commuters drive on the wrong side of the road to save travel time due to the absence of exits or traffic diversions. This is leading to accidents, fatalities, and traffic congestion and we are working out ways to effectively curb it,” said Tomar.

Tomar said wrong-side driving violations are rampant in Hero Honda Chowk, Hamilton Court Road, and Vyapar Kendra Road.

He said that for commuters travelling on the service lanes of the Delhi-Jaipur carriageway of NH-48, the next U-turn after the Hero Honda Chowk is nearly five kilometres away, just before the Kherki Daula toll plaza, due to which they choose to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Both Hamilton Court Road, and Vyapar Kendra Road located on either side of Galleria Market in DLF Phase 4 are one-way stretches, which results in a large number of commuters driving on the wrong side., he added

“My home is located around 350 metres from the Golf Course Road. If I abide by traffic norms, I have to drive almost 1.5 kilometres to reach it. I simply drive 250 metres on the wrong side along the Vyapar Kendra Road and reach my destination. The diversions are impractical,” said a resident of Sector 27, requesting anonymity.

On paper, Vyapar Kendra Road is an unnamed 30-metre-wide road from Huda City Centre (HCC) towards Golf Course Road.

“Of the 38 locations, six are already covered by CCTV cameras. These have been updated to detect wrong-side driving violations. They have also been integrated with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) data so that an automatic e-challan can be generated after reading the number plate of the offending vehicle. Work on setting up CCTV cameras at the other 32 locations is underway,” said a senior GMDA official privy to the matter.

Till June 28 this year, traffic police issued 19,482 challans for wrong-side driving violations.

A wrong-side driving violation leads to a challan of ₹500 for a first offence and ₹1,500 for a subsequent violation. It can lead to termination of licence as well as registration of FIR against the offender for rash driving under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), said traffic police.

“Along with 24x7 surveillance, traffic police should also set up signage cautioning commuters that they are under surveillance and wrong-side driving violations (along with other traffic violations) will lead to an e-challan being generated. Traffic police should prioritise this on stretches where people speed on the wrong side of the road,” said Sewa Ram, an urban transport systems design expert and a faculty member at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi.