Srinagar:“I won’t let you down. I will man the traffic in Down Town Srinagar because people live there. I target rich to make minnows understand. I won’t tolerate traffic violation and even will target the government and Forces vehicle,” Inspector General Traffic Jammu Kashmir Basant Rath said on Tuesday.
Basant Rath who addressed a press conference here in Kashmir capital Srinagar said that he won’t let people of Kashmir down. “Whatever has happened has happened and during my tenure nothing illegal would happen. During my tenure, ladies will find proper seats in public buses. Drivers will wear proper uniform and there will be proper timing for them,” he said and added that there will be no overloading in the public transport buses onwards.
Replying to a question, Basant Rath said that commuters are habitual of parking their vehicles anywhere and now they have to change their habit. “We always blame narrow roads and lack of parking spaces for traffic congestion. It is only an excuse. You can look at Jammu, how things changed with the same roads and parking lots.”
Top cop lamented that despite being laws in place, there is no enforcement. “There are laws but the there is no proper enforcement. People have to act reasonably,” he said.
Basant Rath was all praise for social media and said that there is a dire need for traffic department to harness its power. “I am active on social media because I come to know about ground reality. Social media needs to be taken seriously. It has a potential to turn a cop into a good policeman,” he said.
While responding to a question, Private schools have created havoc across Jammu and Kashmir. He said parents need to show more interest and act responsibly while hiring any vehicle for their kids.
When asked whether he will take action against VIP’s as well, Basant Rath said that no VIP vehicle violated traffic in Jammu and he hopes same in Srinagar. “There is a different security status in Srinagar and I won’t create problems for my friend IG Kashmir. But at the same time I won’t allow anyone to violate traffic rules in the garb of security,” he said.