Twitter
Advertisement

No Mumbaikars jaywalked in past 3 years, according to police data

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The Mumbai traffic police seem to be tolerant to reckless pedestrian crossing on the roads. Testimony to this is the fact that the department has not registered a single case of jaywalking in the city in the last three years.

Lack of manpower, priority on motorists and the poor condition of skywalks and subways in the city are the reasons attributed to the general ignorance to illegal pedestrian movement.

B K Upadhyay, joint commissioner of police, Traffic, said, "With 450 vehicles being registered every day, the vehicular population in the city at its peak. Our priority is to check on motorists and ensure safe vehicular movement. That apart, we are unable to pay attention to pedestrian offenses as we are heavily short-staffed." As per rules, a jaywalker can be fined Rs100.

With the increasing number of pedestrians moving about near railway stations and important junctions, the officials find it practically impossible to penalise them. As a senior officer traffic official puts it, "We are forced to turn a blind eye to pedestrian movement because as many as hundred pedestrians cross roads illegally at a point. How many can we penalise at a time? And if we start focusing on pedestrians, we won't have time to check on the motorists."

As far as pedestrian crossing is concerned, despite more than 50 subways and about 35 skywalks, pedestrians choose to not use them. A traffic officer said, "Although we do not penalise them or register a case, we issue warnings once in a while when we see pedestrians crossing carelessly. However, many a time, they find use of skywalks and subways unsafe. that apart, they complain of its pathetic condition."

The traffic department has written to the MMRDA and the BMC to enhance the conditions of the existing flyover. "We have done a feasibility study of the infrastructure and less than 25% people use subways and skywalks. It is difficult for the older people to climb, therefore we have also requested the authorities to set up skywalk elevators and also improve the existing conditions," added Upadhyay.

He said that pedestrians complain that subways are badly lit and infested with hawkers. "Most subways are unclean and do not have security personnel and are badly lit. They are badly managed and filled with hawkers at any time of the day. That apart, it is difficult for the elderly people to climb the skywalks. There is a need to improve infrastructure and make it pedestrian-friendly so that people start using them willingly. Once better infrastructure is in place, we can start enforcing the jaywalking rule," he added.

As an initial step, the traffic department plans to check on jaywalking near Churchgate by putting up ropes near busy traffic junctions. "We have plans to enforce jaywalking as an offense again and it will happen if we can also bring about change in the existing infrastructure along with the help of MMRDA and the BMC. We will be forming special squads to check on jaywalking in the future. Currently though, our focus is on improving vehicular movement and penalise errant motorists," added Upadhyay


Jaywalking - between 2012 and 2014 - number of cases and fine collected - zero
Penalty as per law - Rs100

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement