To curb wrong parking on roads,Haryana Police ‘cuffs’ wheels

“The Motor Vehicle Act provides using of such clamps for the wrongly parked vehicles,which we have started implementing. In fact,all district police chiefs have been instructed to procure such clamps and start using them. Towing away of a wrongly parked vehicle incurs heavy costing. The clamps are cheaper and serve as a better deterrent,” said Shatrujit Singh Kapoor,Inspector General of Police (Traffic).

The clamps,which are being manufactured by iron smits in the state,cost between Rs 1,000-1,500 per piece for four-wheelers. For a two wheeler,the cost varies between Rs 300-500. The clamp is painted in blue and red (symbols of police equipment) with a warning,which says that the vehicle has been found parked in the no-parking zone. A telephone number is also mentioned,on which the violator has to call. “The entire exercise serves as a deterrent. The chances of such a violator repeating his offence is reduced to a great extent,” said a police officer.

Wrong parking is the cause of major traffic snarls in market place. People haphazardly park vehicles,blocking traffic and causing acute congestion. So far,the district police forces of Kurukshetra,Panipat,Gurgaon and Yamunanagar have started using these clamps. The district police chiefs have been shown the samples and asked to get the clamps designed locally.

While fine for first offence is Rs 100,it increases to Rs 300 for repeated offence. The Haryana Police have also written to the state government asking for an increase in the fine for traffic violations.

Recently,the Haryana Police has started cracking whip on traffic violators. According to police sources,when compared to the 83,000 challans issued in 2010,the police have already challaned over 4.5 lakh violators in the first six months of 2011.