Heavy traffic on Madhupatna Square and (below) the newly constructed building of traffic police station there. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, June 26: City police is planning to introduce a ‘zero tolerance zone’ at its traffic nerve centre Madhupatna Square.

“We are contemplating to introduce the zero tolerance zone at Madhupatna Square, which is a major junction where the city’s traffic and the National Highway-5 merge,” police commissioner B.K. Sharma said today.

Speaking on the sidelines of a blood donation camp organised by the police here today, Sharma said that Madhupatna Sqaure is one of the busiest junctions in the city.

Highlighting the importance of introducing zero tolerance zone at Madhupatna Square, the police commissioner said that the two areas (including AG Square in Bhubaneswar) where zero tolerance measures had been introduced earlier, had recorded a sharp fall in cases of traffic violations.

Traffic violations, such as not wearing helmets, triple riding, reckless driving, not obeying to signals, touching zebra crossings, driving on the wrong sides, talking on mobile phone while driving, not wearing seatbelts, and overloading are usually dealt with strictly in the zero tolerance zones.

Madhupatna Square, which is the converging point for the traffic of the city and the national highway, always witnesses heavy traffic rush. Moreover, it is the gateway to Cuttack city.

“Always, there is a heavy rush on the stretch of the road connecting Badamabadi with Madhupatna. Hundreds of vehicles, including buses, ply on the road, making it an accident-prone area. Pedestrians are forced to cross the roads by risking their lives as there has been a delay in the construction of foot overbridge here,” said Kailash Sahoo, 45, a local resident.

“We hope that issues such as reckless driving, not wearing helmets and other serious traffic violations would be controlled to some extent with the implementation of zero tolerance zone here,” Sahoo added.

Senior traffic officials said that before introducing the zero tolerance zone at Madhupatna Square, efforts would be initiated to create awareness among the people.

According to the local residents, there has also been a delay in the functioning of the traffic police station and a trauma care centre at Madhupatna. Construction work and installation of equipment and infrastructure for the traffic police station and trauma care centre are in final stages. Sources said that it was likely to be introduced soon.

As per an estimate, at least 20 persons are injured and eight casualties are reported in road accidents on this stretch of the highway every month. The trauma centre is likely to minimise deaths and offer immediate life-saving treatment to accident victims.

“Madhupatna traffic police station and trauma care centre would be very helpful in handling accident-related emergencies on road, particularly on the National Highway-5, which passes through the city. We hope that the traffic police station would be made functional soon,” the police commissioner added.