Our men, armed with portable speed radar guns, will randomly check vehicular speed from Tuesday, Verma had said on Monday. But, as The Indian Express team discovered, no speed gun was seen on the roads. On busy roads like EM Bypass, Park Cricus Connector, Strand Road, AJC Bose Road flyover, Rash Behari Connector, Casurina Avenue, Hospital road, Khidderpore Road, Queensway and Red Road it was business as usual. Traffic constables and sergeants were not aware of the drive.
I have not received any written instructions about introduction of speed limits, I came to know of it from newspapers. I do not know how to carry out this drive, said Debobroto Bose, officer-in-charge of Howrah Bridge Traffic Guard. Similar comments were made by senior traffic officers of the other 10 traffic guard as well. Manoj Verma had announced that it would take a day or two to impose the speed limit.
Many officers blamed the communication gap between the top brass and the ground staff for the fiasco. How can we be left out of the process when we have to actually get the job done, commented an officer. The gazette notification is not prepared yet. We will send it to all the traffic guards soon. We are sending an abstract of the notification to them today, Verma had said on Tuesday. We have already booked 15 persons for exceeding the speed limit on EM Bypass and Red road, said Verma.