TrafficInfraTech Magazine Linking People Places & Progress
How did you go about with this? It must have been difficult.
We decided to fix days for checking drunken driving – say once or twice a week. Their cases were sent to the court the very next day. Our officers went to the court and mentioned alcohol content in each case and requested for imprisonment in graver cases. Initially, we got a few convictions but slowly the hazards of drunken driving became apparent and more convictions came. This year we have had more than 800 drivers punished with jail term in the first three months and in equal number of cases, the driving licences of the defaulters have been suspended for periods of six months and above.
The courts sometimes award longer period suspension because they find it will improve road safety and lessen city’s traffic problems. Once the licence is suspended by courts, we send it to the Transport Department for safe custody and issuance after the suspension period, and updating its records. The idea is that once your driving licence gets suspended, you are cautious. Amongst the people awarded jail terms in 39 cases, imprisonment is ten days or more, mostly for commercial vehicle drivers who are not very educated. Even when a few went in for appeal, the judgments of the magistrates have been upheld.
Are the updated records made available to traffic cops?
Ideally, the driving licence must have a chip where the transactions get recorded. But we don’t have that facility yet. We have created our own databank for drunken driving and commercial goods vehicle violation. So, after August 2010, we have been checking our records at least for second and subsequent offences.
They are trying e-challans in some cities to check the details while you are on the road…
I am sure Bangalore is doing it because they have got the e-challan facility. The moment you fill in somebody’s driving licence or vehicle number, the earlier violations appear. We are trying here too but till the equipment comes, we can’t wait. So, we had to have a make-shift arrangement till that time. We are not recording data for minor offences like red light jumping or improper parking, but doing it for graver offences like drunken driving or violations by commercial vehicles. Ideally, it must have been done long back. But then, if it was not there, there is no excuse for not creating it now. So, we are doing it.
Taming your men would also have been a problem. You have recently asked crane contractors who provide cranes to the department to come equipped with a digital camera…
Disciplining our men was a problem, yes. This crane contractors coming equipped with a digital camera was a move made by us. Let me admit – we have got a problem of corruption in traffic police. The person participating in it is always in denial. One of the motivations to join traffic police is to make money. And I am aware of the problem. That’s why we are seeking solutions. That’s why I have reissued a number of administrative orders. One is that policemen up to the post of the head constable are not allowed to stop a commercial vehicle because maximum wrongdoing happens in the case of commercial vehicles. We have also come across some cases where vehicles are towed by cranes and money is extracted to release the vehicles. So we have asked the contractors to provide a camera on each crane and compulsorily click a photograph of the exact place from where they have picked up the vehicle even before they put a hook in the vehicle to tow it away. A digital camera will also show the time, so they can’t lie about the time too, and there is a provision that they cannot delete the photograph once taken.
But are they following it?
Yes. It started in the second week of April this year. Once they take photographs, the possibility of wrongdoing is much less and we can know how many photographs they have taken and how many vehicles they have deposited at what we call ‘pit’. And then of course, once you have taken the vehicle to that location, then whatever fines are to be charged will go to the government account and not the personal accounts. We are doing this to enforce accountability, transparency and integrity to a large extent.
Your uprightness and no-nonsense image must be raising eyebrows.
Not really. In 23 years of my service, I have not had a single case where I have had to reverse my decision – however unpopular it has been. We have prosecuted vehicles of high dignitaries for traffic violations like having unauthorised red beacon, improper parking but everybody, despite personal feelings, were convinced we were enforcing rules professionally. We would prefer not to prosecute a two wheeler driver or auto rickshaw walla if we don’t have the will to prosecute men in authority.
Do lax policies and indifferent attitude of the government affect the functioning of the traffic management in the city?
When I joined, I knew many things which affected the traffic systems and strategies were not in our domain. Multiple agencies handle them – the licensing authority, the vehicle registration cell, the developers of infrastructure or policy makers. But, if you want to make a difference, you have to work within these constraints. I cannot sit back and say that till all agencies function the way they should, we will not be able to administer traffic in a better way.
My idea is that as on date, I have these resources and these problems, and let me prioritise my course of action to effect improvements. Right from the beginning, our emphasis has been on prosecutions. My force too loves prosecution – for obvious reasons. I have always felt that the behaviour of people changes the moment they see a traffic policeman at the intersection. No ITS or ground infrastructure can make the difference this man at the intersection can, to the driving pattern or driving habit of people.
When we increased the presence of the police at the intersections, my people resisted – they felt our prosecutions would go down. I found that we had collected `60 crore as prosecution amount in 2009. So I told my force that I was prepared to forego more than 50% of that collection but I wanted the presence of traffic cops at the intersections in peak hours (8 to 11am and 5 to 9pm) as just their presence at the intersections would bring down violations.
It is important to note that Delhi’s traffic signal system is not perfect. Many times the signals don’t function and we do not have an alternative power system. If a traffic man is not present at intersections in peak hours, it leads to chaos. So traffic man can manually regulate the traffic. We also wanted to reduce corruption because at intersections, you cannot make money blatantly. As a matter of policy, we decided to go for quality offences. The effort led to better traffic management.
What about ploughing back the collection to the traffic department?
It is not required because we are never short of money as we are still funded by the Government of India. What we need is upgraded technology.
What traffic technology does Delhi have at the moment?
It is quite unfortunate that we don’t have the technology that should have been there. We have CCTV cameras at 9 locations (36 cameras) out of 760 odd signals. ITS project, which is to cover one-third of Delhi, is now with the purchase committee. The GOI was very happy to take up the entire project. It has sanctioned `200 crore for it and is ready to finance even further if the project costs more. We have finalised the tender but so far it has not come to the starting point. Whenever it starts, the gestation period will be about two years which is long. The system of e-challans does not exist in Delhi. Our signal system is not at par with what other cities have – it breaks down. Signal maintenance is not good. Bangalore has got three sources of energy – they have got solar power, UPS and direct current. In Delhi, it runs only on electricity. We don’t have a back-up – neither UPS nor solar power.
Again, the city has only 71 cranes while the requirement is of more than 200 cranes. And out of these, 60 are given by private contractors with all limitations. But again, our tenders have not succeeded.
Delhi BRTS too is not functioning well.
Still, it is presumed that BRTS is the best thing the authorities have done for the city. They have identified 23 corridors on which work will commence for BRT. It will now be called ITC. When BRT corridor was made in the present form, traffic police had strongly opposed it. But it was decided that we had to have it. I understand that there will be massive upgradation of BRT coverage – 14 corridors in East, West, North and South.
Will taking on the responsibility of floating tenders, etc dilute the operational duties of your department?
Our main concentration throughout the day is operations only. May be at my level, I don’t run the intersections but I monitor anything and everything happening in the city and I have seven deputy commissioners, which is sufficient number for the city of Delhi. Then we have 20 odd Assistant Commissioners of Police and 60-70 inspectors. So, we feel what we are concentrating on is operational traffic management. It’s a fact that we remain busy but we look into technical aspects as well.
Traffic Police does not float tenders. We have got a specialised wing, a DCP dedicated for this. We take assistance from technical people. IIT has been giving very good contribution for whatever projects we take up. Our expertise comes from them. For evaluation of bids – like we have just purchased bollards – the bids are shown to the special committee. We have got abundant technical backup and support.
You are very active on a social networking site…
Yes we have started traffic police page on Facebook and Twitter. We have more than 55,000 people connected to us on facebook. They give us feedback, suggestions, opinions. They help us in traffic violations as well. I interact with people on facebook and try to respond to their concerns and suggestions. They effectively add to traffic police strength.
How do you manage?
We have got a team which works round the clock on it. They are connected to ground level functionaries, etc. People feel empowered and involved in the process. That’s the biggest thing we have done for the people of Delhi – they report violations. They love putting on our page the violation by most powerful people. Public representatives, senior government functionaries, policemen – they love uploading violations by traffic policemen. Every day when I write report on action taken, 100s of people respond to that. They mention on my wall, send me a message or tag me with a photograph.
Many want to meet senior officers of traffic police which sometimes is not possible. On Chennai FB page I saw something very interesting which still exists. They said: “It is very easy to open a Facebook page. You should learn from Delhi Traffic Police how to maintain it.” People can be very harsh and abusive too.
How did you go about with this? It must have been difficult.
We decided to fix days for checking drunken driving – say once or twice a week. Their cases were sent to the court the very next day. Our officers went to the court and mentioned alcohol content in each case and requested for imprisonment in graver cases. Initially, we got a few convictions but slowly the hazards of drunken driving became apparent and more convictions came. This year we have had more than 800 drivers punished with jail term in the first three months and in equal number of cases, the driving licences of the defaulters have been suspended for periods of six months and above.
The courts sometimes award longer period suspension because they find it will improve road safety and lessen city’s traffic problems. Once the licence is suspended by courts, we send it to the Transport Department for safe custody and issuance after the suspension period, and updating its records. The idea is that once your driving licence gets suspended, you are cautious. Amongst the people awarded jail terms in 39 cases, imprisonment is ten days or more, mostly for commercial vehicle drivers who are not very educated. Even when a few went in for appeal, the judgments of the magistrates have been upheld.
Are the updated records made available to traffic cops?
Ideally, the driving licence must have a chip where the transactions get recorded. But we don’t have that facility yet. We have created our own databank for drunken driving and commercial goods vehicle violation. So, after August 2010, we have been checking our records at least for second and subsequent offences.
They are trying e-challans in some cities to check the details while you are on the road…
I am sure Bangalore is doing it because they have got the e-challan facility. The moment you fill in somebody’s driving licence or vehicle number, the earlier violations appear. We are trying here too but till the equipment comes, we can’t wait. So, we had to have a make-shift arrangement till that time. We are not recording data for minor offences like red light jumping or improper parking, but doing it for graver offences like drunken driving or violations by commercial vehicles. Ideally, it must have been done long back. But then, if it was not there, there is no excuse for not creating it now. So, we are doing it.
Taming your men would also have been a problem. You have recently asked crane contractors who provide cranes to the department to come equipped with a digital camera…
Disciplining our men was a problem, yes. This crane contractors coming equipped with a digital camera was a move made by us. Let me admit – we have got a problem of corruption in traffic police. The person participating in it is always in denial. One of the motivations to join traffic police is to make money. And I am aware of the problem. That’s why we are seeking solutions. That’s why I have reissued a number of administrative orders. One is that policemen up to the post of the head constable are not allowed to stop a commercial vehicle because maximum wrongdoing happens in the case of commercial vehicles. We have also come across some cases where vehicles are towed by cranes and money is extracted to release the vehicles. So we have asked the contractors to provide a camera on each crane and compulsorily click a photograph of the exact place from where they have picked up the vehicle even before they put a hook in the vehicle to tow it away. A digital camera will also show the time, so they can’t lie about the time too, and there is a provision that they cannot delete the photograph once taken.
But are they following it?
Yes. It started in the second week of April this year. Once they take photographs, the possibility of wrongdoing is much less and we can know how many photographs they have taken and how many vehicles they have deposited at what we call ‘pit’. And then of course, once you have taken the vehicle to that location, then whatever fines are to be charged will go to the government account and not the personal accounts. We are doing this to enforce accountability, transparency and integrity to a large extent.
Your uprightness and no-nonsense image must be raising eyebrows.
Not really. In 23 years of my service, I have not had a single case where I have had to reverse my decision – however unpopular it has been. We have prosecuted vehicles of high dignitaries for traffic violations like having unauthorised red beacon, improper parking but everybody, despite personal feelings, were convinced we were enforcing rules professionally. We would prefer not to prosecute a two wheeler driver or auto rickshaw walla if we don’t have the will to prosecute men in authority.
Do lax policies and indifferent attitude of the government affect the functioning of the traffic management in the city?
When I joined, I knew many things which affected the traffic systems and strategies were not in our domain. Multiple agencies handle them – the licensing authority, the vehicle registration cell, the developers of infrastructure or policy makers. But, if you want to make a difference, you have to work within these constraints. I cannot sit back and say that till all agencies function the way they should, we will not be able to administer traffic in a better way.
My idea is that as on date, I have these resources and these problems, and let me prioritise my course of action to effect improvements. Right from the beginning, our emphasis has been on prosecutions. My force too loves prosecution – for obvious reasons. I have always felt that the behaviour of people changes the moment they see a traffic policeman at the intersection. No ITS or ground infrastructure can make the difference this man at the intersection can, to the driving pattern or driving habit of people.
When we increased the presence of the police at the intersections, my people resisted – they felt our prosecutions would go down. I found that we had collected `60 crore as prosecution amount in 2009. So I told my force that I was prepared to forego more than 50% of that collection but I wanted the presence of traffic cops at the intersections in peak hours (8 to 11am and 5 to 9pm) as just their presence at the intersections would bring down violations.
It is important to note that Delhi’s traffic signal system is not perfect. Many times the signals don’t function and we do not have an alternative power system. If a traffic man is not present at intersections in peak hours, it leads to chaos. So traffic man can manually regulate the traffic. We also wanted to reduce corruption because at intersections, you cannot make money blatantly. As a matter of policy, we decided to go for quality offences. The effort led to better traffic management.
What about ploughing back the collection to the traffic department?
It is not required because we are never short of money as we are still funded by the Government of India. What we need is upgraded technology.
What traffic technology does Delhi have at the moment?
It is quite unfortunate that we don’t have the technology that should have been there. We have CCTV cameras at 9 locations (36 cameras) out of 760 odd signals. ITS project, which is to cover one-third of Delhi, is now with the purchase committee. The GOI was very happy to take up the entire project. It has sanctioned `200 crore for it and is ready to finance even further if the project costs more. We have finalised the tender but so far it has not come to the starting point. Whenever it starts, the gestation period will be about two years which is long. The system of e-challans does not exist in Delhi. Our signal system is not at par with what other cities have – it breaks down. Signal maintenance is not good. Bangalore has got three sources of energy – they have got solar power, UPS and direct current. In Delhi, it runs only on electricity. We don’t have a back-up – neither UPS nor solar power.
Again, the city has only 71 cranes while the requirement is of more than 200 cranes. And out of these, 60 are given by private contractors with all limitations. But again, our tenders have not succeeded.
Delhi BRTS too is not functioning well.
Still, it is presumed that BRTS is the best thing the authorities have done for the city. They have identified 23 corridors on which work will commence for BRT. It will now be called ITC. When BRT corridor was made in the present form, traffic police had strongly opposed it. But it was decided that we had to have it. I understand that there will be massive upgradation of BRT coverage – 14 corridors in East, West, North and South.
Will taking on the responsibility of floating tenders, etc dilute the operational duties of your department?
Our main concentration throughout the day is operations only. May be at my level, I don’t run the intersections but I monitor anything and everything happening in the city and I have seven deputy commissioners, which is sufficient number for the city of Delhi. Then we have 20 odd Assistant Commissioners of Police and 60-70 inspectors. So, we feel what we are concentrating on is operational traffic management. It’s a fact that we remain busy but we look into technical aspects as well.
Traffic Police does not float tenders. We have got a specialised wing, a DCP dedicated for this. We take assistance from technical people. IIT has been giving very good contribution for whatever projects we take up. Our expertise comes from them. For evaluation of bids – like we have just purchased bollards – the bids are shown to the special committee. We have got abundant technical backup and support.
You are very active on a social networking site…
Yes we have started traffic police page on Facebook and Twitter. We have more than 55,000 people connected to us on facebook. They give us feedback, suggestions, opinions. They help us in traffic violations as well. I interact with people on facebook and try to respond to their concerns and suggestions. They effectively add to traffic police strength.
How do you manage?
We have got a team which works round the clock on it. They are connected to ground level functionaries, etc. People feel empowered and involved in the process. That’s the biggest thing we have done for the people of Delhi – they report violations. They love putting on our page the violation by most powerful people. Public representatives, senior government functionaries, policemen – they love uploading violations by traffic policemen. Every day when I write report on action taken, 100s of people respond to that. They mention on my wall, send me a message or tag me with a photograph.
Many want to meet senior officers of traffic police which sometimes is not possible. On Chennai FB page I saw something very interesting which still exists. They said: “It is very easy to open a Facebook page. You should learn from Delhi Traffic Police how to maintain it.” People can be very harsh and abusive too.