Don't waste time levying fines, counsel offenders, Maha minister tells Pune cops; cites Diwali season traffic jams

The Diwali festive season in Pune results in traffic jams and police must counsel motorists violating rules rather than "wasting time to levy fines", Maharashtra minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chandrakant Patil said on Monday. Patil, who is the guardian minister of the district, however, also said people must maintain discipline and observe traffic rules while travelling.

"Police should counsel commuters instead of imposing fines on them. It is Diwali period ahead and police should stop wasting their time to levy fines. For another 10 days, there will be huge traffic jams in the city due to Diwali as people will throng the markets for shopping," he said.

"Lot of time goes into stopping traffic violators and levying fines on them. So orders are being issued to not waste time in giving challans to traffic violators in order to curtail traffic jams," Patil told reporters.


He also said there are plans to appoint around 600 additional wardens to regulate the traffic.