Pedestrians in the commercial capital will from now on have to be careful, as the Mumbai Traffic Police has begun its drive, since the beginning of this month, against jaywalkers in order to bring about a sense of traffic discipline to the city’s roads.
The traffic police officials along with local cops have already booked nearly 1,200 people till last week and have slapped them with a fine of Rs 100 each for crossing roads at wrong points, not sticking to footpaths, not using overbridges and subways, and standing on the road at bus stands.
S Barve, joint commissioner (traffic) elaborates, “Pedestrians are forgetting simple traffic rules. We have begun to implement this drive strictly in the city areas where alternative means of walking are available.
” The drive was collectively launched at various intersections like Churchgate Station, Mahalaxmi Station, CST Station, particularly in zones where footpaths are not encroached or where subways are built, he informed.
Rahul Sinha, an MNC employee who was handed over a fine slip at the Churchgate Station stretch, complains, “I was not aware that such rules actually exist. It is not fair that all of a sudden you start a drive and ask people to pay money. I came to the Mumbai last night from Pune. How do they expect me to know the new rule?”
After she was charged for rules of violation, Monika Tyagi, who works at a stock brokerage firm in Colaba bluntly asked the traffic officials if crossing roads in the city is a crime. Many others who were fined also expressed their surprise and said they weren’t aware of the drive.
However, Barve says, “This is no new law; we have just decided to reinforce the existing laws of prosecuting unruly pedestrians who by ignoring traffic rules pose a threat to themselves as well as others. We are not being that harsh on pedestrians.
This drive has just started in the downtown areas whereas in the suburbs, we know that footpaths are encroached upon and they don’t have alternative means. So we are being very lenient on such zones.”
“For the past few days, we have been running advertisements in all leading dailies informing everyone about road safety rules and initiation of the drive,” says Barve.