PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Regional transport officer (Enforcement and Road Safety), Dehradun division Anita Chamola said that enforcement drives are vital to ensure road safety but teams face several hurdles while conducting them.
She said she herself has observed and has been informed by her team members about the challenges faced during enforcement drives for traffic violations and other offences.
She elaborated that one major hurdle is the non-availability of physical documents. With digitalisation, people now keep insurance, driving licence and other documents as photos in their phones instead of physical copies or on verified digital platforms. Physical verification of such photos becomes time-consuming and invalid documents in the form of simple photos or photocopies may lead to seizure of vehicles, she said.
She further informed that another challenge is offenders fleeing the checkpoint to evade action. Enforcement teams have to chase them and many times offenders run to unsafe places. The enforcement teams have to follow them to such unsafe locations. Such incidents at night drives are a matter of concern, she said.
“Space constraint is another issue. At many places there is no adequate street light on roads where drives are conducted, making enforcement difficult. Covering large areas with increased traffic and limited enforcement squads also becomes challenging, as teams have to work 24×7 and get overburdened. Seasonal challenges like rainfall add to the difficulties,” Chamola informed.
She said that another major challenge is ensuring transportation convenience for passengers when a commercial vehicle is seized.
She said that despite challenges, teams ensure they cope with them. She appealed to the public to keep necessary documents either physically or on verified digital platforms and warned that invalid documents kept as simple photos or photocopies may lead to action.
Regarding safety while chasing offenders to unsafe places, she said that enforcement teams are aware of safety tips. In case of space constraints where street lights are not available, the department concerned is immediately informed about the issue, she added.
