KOCHI: An aaya of a private school bus in the city was left clueless when a car parked in front of the bus was blocking its way. Though she made efforts to find the car’s driver, it proved futile. By then, the students had boarded the bus. With no options left, she alerted the police about her situation.
She shot a video and registered a complaint to the police’s new WhatsApp number - 6238100100, which she had saved to inform them of such issues.Within minutes, the police located the driver and got the vehicle removed, allowing the school bus to begin its journey.
This is not a lone case, as the police have sorted out several such traffic violations after they received messages on their dedicated WhatsApp number.
Launched to tame the rash and negligent driving of the private bus drivers in the city, the initiative is proving to be a huge success. The police have already received nearly 500 complaints to the number, and with evidence.
According to the traffic police, nearly 21 FIRs have been registered against private bus drivers for their rash and negligent driving.“Though the dedicated number was launched to report the offences committed by private buses, people are now using it to report traffic offences committed by other drivers as well. Rash driving, illegal parking, signal violations etc., are reported to the police along with a photo, video or voice clip. Even though it was only launched last week, we are getting a good response,” said Honey K Das, SHO, City Traffic Police.
The officer said action has been taken within 24 hours on each complaint that is received at the WhatsApp number.
“So far, nearly 500 complaints have been received at the number, and not a single complaint is pending before us. We have registered an FIR for serious offences, and petty charges have been filed for minor offences. We expect the number of complaints to double, as several people are still unaware of such a feature to report traffic offences,” the officer said.
The police also send a report on the action initiated on the offences to the person who reported it. “This will help the public know how their complaint has been treated. We are getting good support from the public for our quick action. We are also maintaining a register to follow up on each case,” said S Sasidharan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (L&O and Traffic), Kochi City.
During a meeting held under the Transport Minister to discuss the rash and negligent driving of private buses, a decision was taken to set up a dedicated WhatsApp number for the public to report traffic offences. Following this, the police introduced the 6238100100 number to the public. Interestingly, this had failed to garner much attention when the department launched it last year.
Meanwhile, the police department intends to set up a similar system for each district. “Based on the response, the project may be extended to other districts. It is happy to note that private buses have started following the rule after the public became a ‘traffic eye’,” the DCP said.