Bhubaneswar, Jan. 20: Police have proposed to augment the infrastructure needed for better traffic management in the city.

The proposal includes a traffic management centre each in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar with necessary control room gadgets and construction of a traffic park each in the twin cities.

A police official said they would shortly send the proposal to the state home department for approval. The proposal also includes 60 laxometers for measurement of transparency of safety glasses of vehicles.

Though vehicular population has been increasing with each passing year, the present set up, including traffic signalling systems at 19 intersections and two smaller cranes to tow illegally parked vehicles, is not adequate to enforce the traffic rules in the city.

While the traffic wing has been managing with two breath analysers and two speed cameras, each police station across the city has been provided with one breath analyser and one speed camera to enforce the traffic norms. At present, the city has more than 7.8lakh vehicles and around 90,000 are added to the existing number.

The traffic wing imposes fine on around 100 offenders under the Orissa Urban Police Act and the Motor Vehicle Act everyday. While traffic police collected Rs 85lakh as fine from 57,460 violators between January and November last year, it had collected Rs 1.02crore from 69,164 offenders in 2012.

“We have to manage the traffic flow manually at most of the traffic squares in the city. Without adequate and modern gadgets, the traffic management has become difficult,” said a senior police official.

The proposal also included installation of CCTVs at 42 places across the city. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, the executing agency of the project, has already floated a tender in this regard and the installation would be over within the next six months.

Residents, too, feel that the city needs a modern traffic management system to curb road mishaps. “Often violators manage to escape due to lack of enforcement. But at the same time, the police should be provided with modern gadgets, especially adequate breath analysers to curb drink driving,” said Rasulgarh resident Deepak Panigrahy.

While 599 accidents took place in Bhubaneswar in 2011, the number of road mishaps in 2012 increased to 625. The death toll stood at 189 in 2011, which decreased to 184 in 2012.

Proposals

25 traffic signals in Bhubaneswar, 7 in Cuttack

65 blinking lights in Bhubaneswar, 10 in Cuttack

5 cranes

10 interceptors

50 breath analysers

20 cameras to check speed of vehicles

100 hand-held devices for e-challan system with facilities to exchange transport dept database