Harshini Brahmavar
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Apr 24: The city has been witnessing more and more traffic problems with the rapid growth witnessed here. The number of vehicles taking to the roads here has been rising. This nagging problem has been hurting the citizens here since long, as a result of which footpaths have turned into car parking lots. Pedestrians are the worst hit.

The parking zones created at several places are found to be inadequate to handle the high number of vehicles. The problem of parking is grave in front of the flower stall near the service bus stand, stretch of the road from Big Bazar to municipal office, Kalpana Talkies, Alankar Talkies, Board School and several places in Manipal. In some places, parking fee has to be paid. Many have therefore cultivated the habit of parking their vehicles by the roadside, attend to their work, and come back, instead of parking their vehicles at the allotted slot to avoid charges.

Increasing accidents: Because of road work in progress at various places, dug up roads, increasing number of vehicles, lack of direction boards on dividers and curves, lack of preemptive measures in accident zones etc it is gathered that there is a three-fold increase in the number of accidents. As per a source, currently, the number of accidents now happening within three months were occurring in one full year in the past. Perhaps because of increase of vehicle speed, the number of deaths has been mounting.

Dangerous junctions on city outskirts: Balayipade in Udyavar, Ambalpady, Ambagilu, Nittoor, Asheerwad, Santhekatte and Karavali in the outskirts of the city have been identified as dangerous junctions. The police department has identified these junctions as dangerous and hence people need to be extra careful around these areas. Although many a time the traffic police man these points, the road users including pedestrians need to be extra careful.

Licence-less raids: It has been observed that of late, parents give extra liberty to their young sons and daughters coming to the district from elsewhere to pursue education. These youngsters, who many a time have nothing worry on financial front, spend time on jolly rides, wheeling, party, speed drive etc. There were occasions in which these youngsters, who were under the influence of liquor, became victims of accidents. Therefore, the police have introduced the system of beats on Wednesday and Saturday nights. Many cases were also registered. It is reliably gathered that most of the offenders booked for drunken driving are college students. The police have said that they have strictly told the Zoom car booking company to give cars only to those clients who possess driving licences.

Wheel locks: The traffic police station here has only 20 wheel locks. But it is said that when a vehicle that is locked is pushed hard ahead, the locks get opened. Therefore, the police have been instructed to take photo of the locked vehicles and send it to the traffic station.

Buildings with basements but no parking: There has been a rapid increase in the number of buildings in the city but building rules are flagrantly violated. In many cases, buildings which have basements, use this space also for commercial purposes. When the question of issuing or renewing of licences comes up, the political bigwigs put pressure on the officials. Therefore illegal transactions get buried. Therefore, the department concerned should be strict and take action against violators.

There is a need to maintain calm and serene atmosphere near the courts. But there is no enough parking facility at the court complex here. Therefore, many lawyers park their vehicles on the footpath. The police now have removed the unauthorised 'no parking' boards planted there and resorted to controlling the vehicles with the help of barricades.

Police sub-inspector of the traffic station here, Nityananda Gowda, has fined even vehicles allotted for election duty that was parked in 'No Parking' zone. At the same time, evicting street vendors has posed a big challenge to everyone.

In the service bus stand, barricades have been used to create a parking lot for two-wheelers. But the people mess up things by removing these barricades. The police say they send notices to owners who violate rules.

In the past, the police used to impose Rs 100 fine on vehicles found parked in 'No Parking' zones. No one seemed to care about it. Now, the fine has been increased to Rs 500.

City bus stand: Although arrangement for vehicles has been streamlined at the city bus stand here, workers from other districts come together there and many a time, tear off the tags. As buses moving to Manipal stop only for a second there, it becomes a chllenge to control the vehicles.

In the year 2018, a total of 22,146 cases were registered, out of which 156 related to drinking and driving. In 2,019 so far, 4,098 cases have been registered, out of which 121 are connected with drinking and driving.

Going by the number of vehicles booked, Royal Enfield motor bikes take the cake. Notices have been served on 97 such motor bikes. Some among them have been summoned to police stations where the silencers were changed. Nityananda says that it is difficult to identify Enfield bikes at night. Therefore, they are identified on priority and steps are being taken. Nityananda says that awareness programmes are being held with the help of resource persons and in the case of drunken driving, letters are addressed to regional transport authority recommending permanent cancellation of licences.

However, the police department suffers from shortage of manpower. During the period of election, this problem gets aggravated. Although services of home guards are utilized, the people are not responsive enough towards them. Nityananda says that steps are being taken to penalise over-speeding vehicles and making it mandatory to wear seat belts. He also said that his department plans to reduce traffic congestion in the city through various measures.