Will educate locals near Panchgaon Chowk on traffic rules, say Gurugram cops

The Gurugram traffic police will hold a meeting with the people residing near Panchgaon Chowk on National Highway 48 (NH-48) — which is considered one of the most unsafe stretches in the city — next week to discuss and spread awareness on how to avoid road accidents, and also urge them to not drive on the wrong side, said the officials on Thursday.

The meeting was initially scheduled on Thursday, but had to be postponed, said the traffic police officials.

The traffic police will warn the residents that a violator will end up losing his/her driving licence, and in some cases, a FIR will also be registered against those driving rashly, said the officials, adding that the residents will be directed to use the cloverleaf interchange at Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway located a kilometre away from the junction to reach the other side of NH-48. The traffic police are planning to initiate enforcement for the same in the area soon.

“After analysing the data on road fatalities across the city, we found out that Panchgaon Chowk on NH-48 is among the worst junctions in the district. Our traffic marshalls on ground observed that wrong-way driving is the primary reason behind accidents and fatalities at the spot,” said Ravinder Singh Tomar, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Gurugram.

“We are hoping that strict enforcement, and the fear of being fined and facing other stringent actions, will deter the residents from wrong-way driving. We will also deploy around eight to 10 marshalls along the junction to monitor wrong-way driving and other traffic violations,” said Tomar.

The Gurugram traffic police issues a fine of ₹500 for wrong-way driving, and ₹1,500 for a subsequent violation. A wrong-way driving violation can also lead to termination of the licence, and even an FIR is registered against an offender for rash driving under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A violator, in addition to the wrong-way driving, will also have to pay ₹5,000 for dangerous driving and ₹10,000 for a subsequent violation.

According to data released by the Gurugram Vision Zero (GVZ) recently, 21 road fatalities were recorded at the junction between 2016 and 2021 — which was among the highest number of fatalities recorded at a junction in the district. The GVZ is a road safety programme by the district administration. According to the Gurugram traffic police, one road fatality case has been recorded at the junction this year, till April 30.

Panchgaon Chowk is located at the point where vehicles from the KMP Expressway and NH-48 converge, and besides recording a heavy traffic movement, the junction is also densely populated on both sides of the highway. A constant flow of vehicles driving on the wrong side thus leads to many road accidents and fatalities, said the traffic police officials.

Ishan Gogoi, a senior research associate at GVZ, said that besides rampant wrong-way driving, the junction also lacks traffic calming measures and streetlights, which also contributes to road accidents and fatalities. “As a driver approaches the junction from Manesar towards Jaipur, the speed of his/her vehicle could suddenly increase as the junction has a gradual decline at that point. Before the driver gets accustomed to this change, he/she often encounters vehicles driving on the wrong side, which leads to collisions. The junction also does not have streetlights, which leads to accidents during night,” said Gogoi.