Over 17,000 cases of traffic violation in last nine months

SHILLONG: More than 17,000 cases of traffic rules violation have been recorded in the last few months in Shillong, a city where undisciplined driving is one of the major problems at traffic personnel’s hand to deal with.
Out of the total number of cases, the violation of odd-even rule has, of late, led to the police realising penalty sum accruing to over Rs 1.5 crore in East Khasi Hills only.
As per report, as many as 17,156 cases were compounded by the Shillong Traffic Police (STP) from January till September this year, while last month alone, a total of 3,217 cases were detected in the district, which were accordingly compounded.
The police have, in this last nine months, garnered a total fine of Rs 1,68,37,150 for violations.
Speaking on the matter, the Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Siddharth Kumar Ambedkar, asserted that STP needs the cooperation of the public to effectively deal with the traffic situation in the city.
Stating that monthly counseling classes and regular awareness programmes are being organised for traffic violators and local taxi drivers, he added that the police is also conducting checking on use of mobile phones while driving and they are also checking the use of high beam within the city besides the use of other powerful headlights. On the other hand, Ian Swer, who assists Ambedkar, said the police have been rigorous against those who violate the odd-even rule in the city.
He also stressed about the implementation of community traffic management system in order to ease the traffic situation.
Traffic jams in the city is one of the most common problems, which has only doubled over the years, and become a nuisance for almost every resident of Shillong.
Only a few months earlier, the city roads were literally empty due to the lockdowns, but now the traffic situation is back to square one after the state government eased up restrictions and gave the green light to resume more economic activities in the city.