New Delhi: At 9.30am harried commuters who are struggling to reach work and break traffic rules are targeted by Kavita Tholia. The 23-year-old housewife whips out her mobile phone and captures photos of all traffic violators.
The Delhi Traffic Police recently launched a mobile app through which citizens can keep a tab on traffic violators and upload their photographs and videos. The app, Traffic Sentinel, is part of a scheme to reduce these violations and the person posting the maximum number of violations would be rewarded on February 20.
Launching the scheme in December, Delhi Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi said: “This will be an empowering tool in the hands of the common citizen, who will get a platform to report traffic offences occurring on the roads of Delhi.”
Explaining that it was a way to involve concerned citizens to help inculcate a habit of traffic discipline on city roads, he said the app would ask for only basic information such as place of offence, date and time. “In GPS-enabled phones, these will be automatically embedded on the photograph,” he added.
For genuinely anxious people; however, it is much more than expectations of a reward. Like Tholia, who lost a cousin, and her husband, who lost his brother in a road accident, there are many who have become the eyes of the traffic police.
Tholia says of her daily routine: “After dropping my three-year-old son at a playschool, I head for the busiest roads in outer Delhi’s Najafgarh area, where I live. Sometimes I take an auto and most times travel by bus.”
Once at the junctions, she keeps an eye on the traffic and the moment any motorist jumps a traffic signal, rides without a helmet or takes wrong turn, she takes a picture.
Every day, in a span of two-and-a-half hours, on an average she is able to take 50 photographs. “Out of which not all come out right. Either the number plate is not visible or someone comes in the frame,” she says.
Despite that, Tholia is leading the competition. She has uploaded more 3,300 photos on the app. Those with maximum points will be part of the lucky bumper draw and win prizes that include an Alto K10 car, a motorbike and a trip abroad. Other rewards comprise dinner coupons, movie tickets and free mobile talk time.
Tholia, who finished her B. Ed from a university in Rohtak, says, “I had watched about the scheme on TV and discussed [it] with my husband, Satpal Choudhary, a judo instructor with the Border Security Force, who immediately supported me. While most times I do the job on my own, sometimes when we go out for shopping, he offers to help me.”
Tholia recalls an unusual incident. “One day, while we were together, I spotted a vegetable vendor and suddenly decided to buy some vegetables. Since it was evening time and rush hour, I requested my husband to take photos of traffic violators. Barely 10 minutes later, I found that traffic cops had accosted him and were questioning why he was clicking their images.”
“When no amount of clarifications worked, we showed all photographs to them to provide proof that they were not part of our agenda. A few times even youngsters threaten me when I take their pictures breaking traffic rules. But I maintain my cool and tell them it’s part of some project I have undertaken,” she says.
“My purpose is not to win awards and rewards, but to create awareness among people. I lost my cousin in an accident, when a jeep coming from the wrong side collided with his two-wheeler head on. If everyone becomes vigilant, several lives will be saved,” she added.
To become a traffic sentinel, a user has to download the traffic police app and get enrolled. He/she would get an acknowledgement and a unique transaction number for each photograph or video uploaded.
Point system
Violations such as driving against the flow of traffic: 5 points.
Red-light jumping, dangerous driving: 3 points.
Yellow line violation, triple riding, using mobile phone: 2 points.
Parking on footpath, defective number plate, without seat belt, without helmet and stop line violation: 1 point each.
