Since 2014, Traffic fines of Rs. 791 cr levied in tri-commissionerate using speed guns

Hyderabad: The Telangana police department levied fines of Rs. 791 crores in the tri-commissionerate area, since the formation of the state, where offenders were identified with the aid or assistance of radar speed guns or other similar devices.

This was revealed in an RTI filed by Sinjith Goud, a law graduate based in the Kamareddy district in Telangana. "I was curious about the number of speed guns and how they function. Initially, I wanted to find the number of speed guns in the state but I realized that there are several districts in Telangana that did not have speed guns at all," Sinjith told NewsMeter.

A radar speed laser gun camera or other similar device is kept at required places to capture dangerous driving/overspeeding and for regular inspections. The challans are generated by the traffic police stations concerned as part of the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) Project.

According to the reply to the RTI, fines of Rs. 234 crores were levied by the Cyberabad traffic police while the Hyderabad traffic police levied Rs. 499 crores in fines and the Rachakonda traffic police Rs. 58 crores.

Radar guns: Catching speed violations

The traffic police have a total of 26 radar guns in the tri-commissionerate area. The Cyberabad traffic police have the highest number of speed guns, 14. There are six-speed guns each in Hyderabad and Rachakonda that are used at different locations and at alternate times.

Speed violations captured through the radar guns are sent to the e-challan server with encrypted and saved servers. The violation is generated along with photographs and recorded on the server. It can be viewed on the website. After paying the fine, these photos are removed from the website.

Since the formation of the state, a total of 5,54,867 speed challans have been issued under the Rachakonda traffic police limits and 47,20,695 speed challans issued under the Hyderabad traffic police limits.

According to the Cyberabad traffic police, the devices are inspected once a year and the data received from radar guns is stored for six months.

Earlier Hyderabad Joint Commissioner of Traffic A V Ranganath said the department is planning to purchase a dozen more speed guns soon.