MA Saleem: Unfortunate people buy vehicles for aspiration than need

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Speaking at the Declog Bengaluru conclave organised by News Trail, Special Commissioner for Traffic MA Saleem said that Bengaluru is one of the most beautiful cities in the country not only because of its pleasant climate, but also because of the culture and attitude of the people here. Anybody coming from anywhere in the country feels safe here, he noted.

"In the past few years, people from different parts of the country have settled down in Bengaluru. While it is a good thing that our city has progressed and developed well, there is also the concern of rising population and with that the number of vehicles here," he said.

According to Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP), there are about 11 million vehicles in the city. And obviously when the vehicular traffic increases, the roads are congested. Vehicle parking is again another issue as the city does not have a multi-level parking facility.

"It is a fact that people buy vehicles for ambition and aspiration rather than for the need. In Japan, people are not allowed to buy a vehicle unless they have adequate parking space at their homes as well as at their workplaces. We should not misuse liberty," he said. The traffic expert also highlighted the concern about indiscipline on the road which often causes accidents.

"While driving people need to follow the traffic rules. In 2021-22, the BTP booked more than 1.4 crore traffic violation cases. A lot of violation cases were already pending because the violators had failed to respond to the police notices. Hence, we had decided to bring out the 50 per cent rebate scheme to clear the pending cases recently," he said.

The officer said that the BTP is working in coordination with other civic bodies such as BBMP and BDA to explore technology-related systems, such as ITMS (Intelligent Traffic Management System), synchronised signals, and installation of Artificial Intelligence at signals for better traffic management. He said smart cameras placed across the city will book the violators. “The use of tech will also bring a lot of transparency,” he said.