Mumbai: Jaywalkers beware! You may lose Rs 200 to traffic police

Following the CSMT Bridge collapse, the traffic police noticed that people were reluctant to use the CSMT subway. Instead, they used the area underneath the bridge for crossing prompting the authorities to make a zebra crossing under the bridge. The traffic police have identified few spots in South Mumbai where pedestrians indulge in jaywalking, thereby causing hindrance to traffic and have begun taking action against them.

"We have analysed the places in South-Mumbai where jaywalking is a major hindrance to smooth flow of traffic. CST, Churchgate, Crawford Market, Haji Ali, Aaykar Bhuvan and Colaba Causeway are areas where people prefer to dart across the road than climb up and down the stairs of subways and foot overbridges," said Deepali Masirkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-City).

The violators are handed over to the local police station where action can be taken upon them under section 33 (power to make rules or regulation of traffic and for the presentation of order in public place, etc) of Bombay Police Act, she added. As per the law, those indulging in jaywalking have to pay a fine of Rs 200, if caught.

"In order to ensure that pedestrians follow the rules and do not indulge in jaywalking, we have created temporary pathway using ropes at CST and Churchgate stations. On average we have been catching at least a dozen persons involved in jaywalking. However, in some cases, people have claimed to be new to the city and were unaware of jaywalking. Instead of penalising them, we had set them free after counselling them," said another police officer.