Authorities crack whip against traffic violators in Bandipora

Bandipora, Nov 2: Bilal Ahmad Mir, the Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) of Bandipora, has made it his mission to crack down on traffic violators in this north Kashmir district.
The officer has been on the road to ensure safety on the roads which have lately “become deadly.”

The official has suspended scores of licenses of traffic violators besides blacklisting vehicles and imposing fines this year.
Mir told Greater Kashmir the department has adopted a “zero tolerance approach” towards traffic violators to promote safe driving and safeguarding lives.
In one of the latest actions on Thursday, the department announced collection of one lakh rupees fine. Besides this seven driving licenses and 15 registration certificates were seized, officials informed Greater Kashmir.

Overall, 27 licenses have been suspended this year, the officer said. Mir told Greater Kashmir majority of those who violate traffic rules are those driving “two wheelers”.
“All the licenses suspended belong to those driving two wheelers,” he told the Greater Kashmir.
Mir said the violations leading to “license suspension” included not wearing helmets while driving two-wheelers, reckless driving, over speeding, and repeated offenses of not wearing seat belts while driving.
He said that repeat offenders face even stricter action and their licenses “will be permanently canceled.”

The officer said driving two-wheelers without wearing a helmet has been “identified as the main cause of many deaths and accidents in Bandipora in the last few years.”
Previously in September, the officer suspended 21 driving licenses for three months for various violations. The officer made public the list of the suspended licenses through a notice.
He told Greater Kashmir that this was the first such move in the district to warn traffic violators and ensure “safer roads.”
“Although people might be angry, it was important for a wider good,” he explained. In the same month, Mir blacklisted a car with registration number JK15B 1238, after a video of it went viral.
In the video, the driver of the vehicle was seen climbing on the rooftop of the running car.

The officer said that this incident “endangered public safety and also the driver’s life.” He said that he “instantly blacklisted the vehicle” and initiated legal action against the owner.
In August, four registration certificates were seized and four permits suspended besides a fine of 28 thousand rupees was also collected.
In May, he blacklisted 24 vehicles on the spot and fined 50 thousand rupees during multiple checkpoints. He also banned fancy and high beam LED lights to prevent road accidents and discomfort to fellow drivers in Bandipora during night checking in districts main Gulshan Chowk in August.

He said, “I removed high beam lights from 10 vehicles instantly and seized their documents.”
The officer vowed to enforce the ban order strictly and make roads safer in the district.