Pedestrians flouting rules face police wrath

New Delhi, Dec 5 - Pedestrians in the national capital have to be careful as Delhi Traffic Police Wednesday began its drive against jay walkers to bring a sense of semblance to the city's roads.

Traffic police officials along with local cops booked nearly 100 people till Wednesday afternoon and slapped them with a fine of Rs.100 each for crossing roads at wrong points, not sticking to footpaths, not using over-bridges and subways, and standing on the road at bus stands.

The drive was collectively launched at six intersections: Sikandra Road-Tilak Marg, Barakhamba Circus-Connaught Place Outer Circle, Ashram Chowk-Moti Nagar crossing, Boulevard Road subway, and Delhi Gate.

Grisih Kumar, a Reliance Industry employee who was handed over a fine slip at the Tilak Marg stretch, said: 'I was not aware that such rules actually exist. It is not fair that all of a sudden you start a drive and ask people to pay money. I came to the capital last night from Punjab. How do they expect me to act according to the new rules?'

After she was charged for rules violation, Monika Tyagi, who works at a stock brokerage firm in Connaught Place, bluntly asked traffic officials if crossing roads in the city is a crime.

Tyagi pleaded ignorance while the cops briefed her about the new drive.

Many others who were fined also expressed surprise and said they weren't aware of the drive.

However, Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said: 'This is no new law and we have just decided to reinforce the existing law of prosecuting unruly pedestrians who by ignoring traffic rules pose threat to themselves and others.'

'For the past few days we have been running advertisements in all leading dailies informing everyone about road safety rules and initiation of the drive,' Bhagat added.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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