Berhampur: In a bid to bring traffic jams under control and create better traffic sense among denizens, the district administration has cracked the whip on traffic violators.
According to sources, regional transport offices (RTOs) had cancelled driving licenses of 6,238 persons in Ganjam district during past two years while 2,863 licenses were cancelled in 2018 and 3,375 licenses were cancelled in 2019. The district police stations had requested the transport authorities to cancel 2,131 driving licenses, a report said.
Similarly, RTO authorities have cancelled 1,244 driving licenses from their side against the wrongdoers. Local RTOs have issued 1,244 e-challans so far, of which 1,140 e-challans were issued by Ganjam RTO and 104 e-challans by Bhanjanagar RTO.
The district transport and police have collected penalty from 85,943 persons over past one year. While different police stations have collected Rs 1,22,11,300 from 75,599 persons, RTO authorities have collected Rs 5,13,400 from 10,344 persons driving without helmets.
Moreover, 1,660 vehicle owners who were found flouting traffic rules during verification have been fined an amount of Rs 3,71,500 for not having valid insurance and other documents.
Traffic police of the district deal strictly with offenders. Driving without helmets, rash driving and use of loud horns are an invitation for penalty. Both RTOs and police stations under Ganjam and Berhampur police districts check vehicles at different vulnerable spots. Vehicle drivers disobeying traffic rules are fined by RTOs and the local police.
Apart from this, the local police also forward names of traffic violators to local RTOs for cancellation of their driving licenses. Similarly, on a regular basis RTO officials also cancel driving licenses on spot.
Notably, 734 road accidents had occurred and 385 people had died in Ganjam district last year. Looking into the gravity of the problems, there is a need for the society at large to join hands and make road safety a social movement.
