Image Source: Pune Now
As a pioneering initiative to tackle chronic traffic snarls and offenses, Pune Police has launched the 'PTP Traffic Cop App,' which activates citizens as active stakeholders in policing road safety. The initiative, spearheaded by Maharashtra Deputy Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, is ushering in a new era of citizen-participatory traffic policing in the city.
The app allows law-abiding citizens to report as many traffic violations and road hazards as they please. They can report in real-time by sending photos or video recordings directly from their phones. They can only report, however, if they are law-abiding citizens with no outstanding challans, so law-abiding citizens are in charge.
Key Highlights
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Citizen-Led Enforcement: The app provides for reporting of offenses such as illegal parking, wrong-side driving, jumping of red lights, helmet-less riding, triple-seat driving, mobile use while driving, black tinted glass, fancy number plates, and driving on no-entry roads.
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Report Road Hazards: Motorists can also report accidents, breakdowns, potholes, waterlogging, oil leaks, fallen trees, and abandoned vehicles—issues that typically cause severe traffic congestion.
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Rapid Response: The complaints are verified in 48 hours. Verified violations result in electronic e-challans and highway hazards are forwarded to the concerned agency for action.
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Strict Privacy: Complainants' identities are kept strictly confidential so that people have no fear of reprisal in reporting abuse.
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Transparency and Accountability: The campaign aims to enhance transparency, active citizenship, and joint responsibility toward safer, simpler roads.
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Eligibility: Only those citizens with no outstanding traffic challans are eligible to make reports, encouraging responsible contribution.
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Seamless Coordination: The system enables smooth interaction between citizens, traffic police control room, and municipal authorities for redressal of grievances in a timely manner.
Ajit Pawar, Deputy CM, requested the citizens of Pune to download the app and become "Sujan Nagrik"—active citizens who would serve as traffic police's eyes and ears. With over 100 traffic deaths occurring annually in Pune, the authorities are looking forward to this online initiative to make a significant difference in traffic discipline and safety on city roads.
This move does not just introduce transparency but also the sense of shared responsibility. All such reports thus authenticated will be addressed at once, and the identity of citizens reporting such violation shall be kept confidential.
— Manoj Patil, Additional Commissioner of Police (East)
Source: My Pune Pulse, Free Press Journal, Punekar News
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