Bhubaneswar: The instances of traffic violations decreased in the city in 2017 as compared to the previous year.

Statistics reveals that police had penalised 99,332 violators in the city in 2017 as compared to 1,41,674 in 2016.

The police had in 2016 collected a penalty of Rs 3.14 crore from traffic violators, which also came down to Rs 2.52 crore in 2017. However, driving without helmets still continue to be the major contributor with as many as 44,126 people getting penalised in 2017.

Similarly, more than 20,000 people were found driving on wrong side, while more than 2,800 people were penalised for triple riding. Besides more than 2,000 people were fined for driving without licences and registration certificates.

The police had in 2017 launched a crackdown on pressure horns and detected 6,258 violators.

The police attributed the decrease in number of violators to strict enforcement in 2016, awareness drives and student-traffic volunteers scheme launched in January last year. "We organised as many as 28 traffic awareness programmes in 2017 at various schools and colleges. The strict enforcement of traffic norms in 2016 also sensitised people. Installation of closed-circuit cameras at various traffic intersections has also forced people to adhere to the norms," said a police officer.

"As traffic volunteers are roped in from various educational institutes, it creates awareness among other youths of the concerned institutes. The volunteers also played an important role in creating awareness while performing their duties at various intersections," said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Jatindra Kumar Panda.

"At present, we have 115 student-volunteers assisting traffic personnel, and the number will be increased to 200 by February. We have already started to rope in more students," said Panda.

The student-volun-teers are provided with a remuneration of Rs 100 for rendering service of three hours.