Our job is to regulate traffic, enforce rules, ensure safety: Saleem

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: After senior IPS officer MA Saleem took over the mantle as special commissioner for traffic in Bengaluru, one can see the behavioural change among the traffic management.

Speaking to News Trail, Saleem speaks about the changes made to the traffic management system in the city with a glimpse at some of the future plans. MAS aleemisa 1993-batch IPS officer who has a PhD in traffic management. Your recent plans to decongest the city have attracted positive results.

Q What would you say are the top three modifications you have done that you believe are yielding results?

See, Traffic police is not the whole and soul of the traffic management in any city. Traffic police have been given only three functions: Regulation of traffic on road, enforcement of traffic laws and to ensure road safety. However, traffic management in itself is a very broad and generic term.

Coming back to your question, our main focus is to reduce traffic congestion.There were several rules in place, which unfortunately were not properly implemented; for example, a ban on the entry of heavy vehicles in the city during peak hours. What we have now done is to ban the movement of such vehicles completely during peak hours mor ning and evening.

Q How did the recently concluded 50 per cent discount on traffic violations fare?

The decision came in the wake of a resolution passed by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) on January 27, requesting the State Transport department to facilitate “justice for all” with regard to traffic fines. The Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) collected around Rs 12.3 crore in the last announcement while Rs 126 crore was collected after the first announcement. The scheme was a success and we cleared more than 48 lakh pending traffic violation cases.

Q How does city infrastructure help in traffic management?

Traffic management is a multi-faceted task; we are already working with agencies like the BBMP, BWSSB, BESCOM, BMTC, BMRCL and so on to sort out traffic congestion in the city, as they all go hand in hand.