Outstation vehicles get leeway

CHANDIGARH: Following several complaints to UT IG of rampant corruption at checkposts from owners of vehicles with non-Chandigarh registration numbers, SP Hardeep Singh Doon on Thursday passed instructions to his men not to stop them unless there were visible signs of traffic violation.
���From now on, two traffic marshals instead of one will be deployed at every naka to record data and incidents of corruption and harassment,��� assured Doon.Even as the city daily receives several vehicles registered in Mohali, Panchkula and Kharar, it���s mainly SUVs and those from far off places in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana that are stopped in their tracks, with owners reportedly having
to grease the palms of a greedy few, fault or no fault, to get away.
Divesting the power of deployment at nakas from chief marshal, Doon said, ���At present, there are 31 marshals and, knowing very well where I have deployed each one of them, it���ll be easier to counter hanky-panky dealings if these were ever taking place with their help earlier.���
Enumerating on other steps taken to check corruption, he added, ���I will call a meeting of traffic inspectors and marshals every month to streamline their working and strengthen their ties.��� Expressing concern over increasing incidents of drunken driving in the city, the SP said, ���We need more nakas and, beginning Saturday, there will be checkposts near discotheques and clubs. Already this year, half-a-dozen people have lost their lives by mixing driving and drinking.���