City police have introduced a fine of Rs 500 on auto-rickshaw drivers who violate rules prescribed for them as part of the traffic restrictions for Dusshera.

Assistant commissioner of police (traffic) P.K. Dalei said the penalty system had been introduced for proper regulation of auto-rickshaws during festive time.

“They are expected to wear uniform, carry identity card, not consume alcohol, drugs or any intoxicants while driving and not accommodate passengers beyond capacity,” Dalai said.

He said traffic restrictions had been imposed in various parts of the city to tackle festive rush.

“One-way traffic have been imposed on prominent routes for better crowd and traffic management from 4pm to midnight till October 19,” Dalai said.

“A special plan for traffic regulation will be implemented on the immersion ceremony to be held on October 20,” Dalai said. As part of the temporary one-way traffic system, bulk of the city’s traffic is being diverted to the 18km ring road and subsequently redirected on major routes so that there is less rush on arterial roads especially near major puja mandaps.

Dalei said the entire city had been divided into eight sectors and four zones and stress is being given on fast clearance of rush and traffic from near puja mandaps.

While an assistant commandant rank officer has been deployed in each zone, a sub inspector (SI) and a constable have been deployed in each sector to supervise the traffic system.

Major thoroughfares, including Chandni Chowk, Balu Bazar, Nayasarak, Choudhury Bazar, Dargha Bazar, Tinkonia Bagicha, Buxi Bazar, Mani Sahu Chakh, Mata Math, Nuapatna, Manglabag, Ranihat, College Chakh, Bajrakbati, Dolamundai are being given extra focus with deployment of more traffic constables.

Cuttack Mahanagar Shanti Committee president Debendra Sahu said: “These particular routes bear extra traffic rush and ensuring a free flow of traffic during Dusshera is a challenging task owing to the convergence of vehicles from different sides on these major thoroughfares.”

Two additional SPs and five ACPs are supervising the overall traffic management of all the four zones. Besides, 400 traffic constables, home guards and 100 police officers have been deployed for strict enforcement of the one-way traffic system during the festival.

Mobile police control rooms are assisting the existing staff to clear the congestion at prominent routes during the one-way traffic period.

As part of the temporary restrictions all the vehicles coming from the Link Road are being diverted to Dolmundai via Badambadi. The vehicles are being allowed to move towards Malgodown and Chatrabazar. The vehicles from Dolmundai side are not being allowed to move straight towards Ranihat rather the traffic is being diverted towards Bajrakabati road. The commuters can then move towards Buxi Bazar or Mangalabag via Kesharpur.

The heavy vehicles from Nayabazar are not being allowed to move towards OMP square and will be diverted towards Press Chack or Kalia Boda via Nuapada.

A dedicated squad has been ensuring that there is no encroachment of the road either by illegal parking or temporary kiosks by street vendors at major routes including Choudhry Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Haripur and Ranihat.