Traffic violators get caught on FB

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Three months back when the Delhi traffic police made its social networking debut on Facebook, they might not have expected such an overwhelming response from the city. But today, thanks to the pictures of traffic rule violators posted by netizens, the traffic police has started sending challans and notices after verifying these pictures on its social networking account. To monitor netizens’ pictures, the traffic police has also deployed 40 police personnel and have asked senior officers to check the account regularly for updates and complaints. Though it’s too early to assess the success of this move, residents of the city have given a thumbs up to the initiative.
“I am glad that the DTP has finally pulled up its socks. But the real credit goes to aware citizens, who took the pain of clicking these pictures and uploading them to make the city free of traffic-related crimes. But as far as challans are concerned, I still think that the current challan amount is insufficient and should be increased,” opines 26-year-old Protyush Hazarika, an event manager.
Though the pictures are keeping DTP on its toes, the social networking Web page has become a hotbed for various discussions on traffic-related issues. From issues such as parking mafia, unauthorised taxi and auto stands to corrupt officials, the page has become the best option for people to have an in-depth overview of the entire city’s traffic.
“Checking the DTP’s Web page has become a habit for me before going for work in the morning. Especially, due to the traffic updates by citizens, who post genuine details of every route. I have opted for SMS updates, but it just reports accidents from all over Delhi,” opines 28-year-old Raunak Narayan Deb, working with the American Express.
And while citizens have posted pictures voluntarily, many feel that the traffic police should shoulder its responsibilities. “It’s understood that the main idea behind having a social networking account is to seek cooperation from citizens, but that doesn’t mean they are going to depend entirely on these pictures taken by citizens to nab offenders. Instead, they can have CCTV cameras on all the red lights to make things easier,” opines Yanchen Dolkar, third year student of the Delhi Law Faculty.