Mumbai: Over 72,000 vehicles were penalised in the past three years – from 2022 to March 2024, for honking in designated silent zones like around hospitals, schools, colleges, and courts, according to data obtained from Mumbai Traffic Police under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The RTI reply, received by activist and advocate Godfrey Pimenta, further suggests that in the year 2022, the most number of challans were issued to motorists for honking – standing at 53,516, followed by in 2023 at 16,641, and in 2024 from January to March, MTP has already penalised 2,431 motorists for honking at silent zones.
In the category of number of cases registered for non-compliance of Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) violation, 55,000 and more vehicles were penalised during the same span. The highest number of PUCC challans being issued is 32,183 in the year 2023, followed by 12,611 in 2022 and 10,674 in 2024 up to March.
Regarding number of heavy vehicles booked by MTP for plying on wrong lanes i.e. on the right hand side lane of the Western Express Highway and the Eastern Express Highway, the number of ‘wrong side challan’ is the highest in 2019 with 1,391 vehicles being penalised, followed by 931 vehicles in 2021, 506 in 2020, 212 in 2023, 111 in 2022 and 18 vehicles this year up to March.
“There are many heavy vehicles on the Western and Eastern Express Highways on the wrong lanes, which reduces the speed of cars and other small vehicles. This results in serpentine queues and wastage of fuel. The traffic police authorities should carry out strict patrolling to enforce lane discipline,” said Advocate Godfrey.
The RTI reply also revealed the number of cases for the offence related to illegal parking, which had the highest challan in 2021 – 13,931,81 and in the same year, the total amount of ‘unpaid’ challan in illegal parking was 63,82,400.
In recent years, the number of parking challan issued is 20,482 in 2022, 3,020 in 2023 and 237 in 2024 up to March. Instead of revealing the unpaid dues in the previous three years, the reply in the category says ‘Sent to Court’.