Traffic fines based on social media plaints triple since 2018
31,124 fines issued in first six months of 2019 against 10k in 2018
NEWDELHI: Fines issued by the traffic police with the help of citizens who shared photographs of violations with their social media accounts has touched a new high, data accessed by Hindustan Times shows. In the first six months of the year, at least 31,124 fines were issued on the basis of citizens reporting traffic violations on the traffic police’s Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp accounts. In comparison, only 10,009 such fines were issued last year. The number was even lesser the year before that, at around 8,000.
Last year, the traffic police personnel on the roads had issued 64.8 lakh fines, while in 2017 the number was 56.7 lakh.
Apart from common violations such as riding two-wheeler without helmets, the traffic police have effectively used the three social media platforms to spot violations such as cars parked on pavements, at no-parking spots, or cars using defective number plates. Police said the citizens sending photographs makes it credible proof of the violation. While citizens send more than 300-400 complaints a day, traffic police officers said the photographs are, on occasion, unclear or the complaint incomplete.
The traffic police social media handle has over 1.1 million followers on Twitter, and 2.73 lakh followers on Facebook.
“Photographs of vehicles at no-parking spots with corresponding signboards near the vehicle has become one of the most-reported complaints. Many times, people forget to send the location of the parked vehicle, but when they do, our teams issue fines. Photographs of people riding without a helmet are also a common complaint we receive,” a senior police officer said.
This year, till June 30, at least 15,185 challans were issued for riding without a helmet. “Many of them were also police personnel spotted riding without a helmet,” another officer said.
Apart from sending photographs, residents have also sent videos of auto-rickshaw and taxi Triple riding on a two-wheeler
Improper parking Driving against flow of traffic
Using a cell phone while driving
drivers refusing to charge fares as per the meter or government rates. Police fined over 600 such taxi and auto drivers for harassing passengers, based on video evidence. The chief of the traffic police and special commissioner of police Taj Hasan said, “We encourage citizens to send complaints on social media. Public participation is very important . We also need their feedback.”
A team of around 40 officers at the Todarpur traffic police office work around-the-clock to check the three social media accounts — a unit known within the traffic police as the Public Interface Unit. Apart from issuing fines and replying to queries on the three social media accounts, the team also sends updates about traffic congestion throughout the day. Police officers there also monitor Google Maps and send updates according to the same. Only tech-savvy officers fluent in English and who write well are chosen to reply on behalf of the traffic police.
“We also hold social media training sessions for the officers, to make sure they are up-to-date with the trends in social media. The last such session was held in January. Additionally, we may increase the strength of the unit in the coming months,” a senior police officer said. NEW DELHI: For the fourth time, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has failed to get the “open-defecation free (ODF)” tag from the central government.
The ministry of housing and urban affairs (MOHUA) confers the tag on urban local bodies (ULBS) that have eliminated open defecation in their jurisdiction.
A team of experts from the Quality Council of India (QCI) -which conducts third-party inspection on behalf of MOHUA -- found evidence of human faeces in Keshavpuram Zone of the corporation. The survey was conducted on July 11 and 12. “Citizens have also confirmed that they defecate in the open,” a letter by QCI to the north body, refusing them the certificate, said.
North body commissioner Varsha Joshi on Wednesday said, “The team inspected 17 sites and found all of them free of open defecation. It was while returning that they saw something and then expressed their inability to award us the ODF certificate this time. We will reapply and work hard for this again.”
Senior officials, who did not wish to be named, said spots inspected included slums like Zakhira and Mayapuri Chowk; residential areas like Indira Camp and Amar Jyoti Colony; commercial areas like Shastri Market in Azadpuri; schools in Badli and Malka Ganj, besides a ‘special location’ Bhalswa Lake. “Afterwards, they asked some locals in the GP Block slums of Pitampura where they defecate, and they pointed to a piece of land in Park Chowk. We believe that the land doesn’t even belong to us, but another government agency, but the blame landed on us,” the official said.
Another official said, “In that same area, we have installed five pre-fabricated fixed toilets, but the locals still prefer to go out in the open. Getting the ODF certificate has been very difficult for us because the biggest railway stations and rail lines cross through our territory.”
Misbehaviour/ harassment over driving by drivers