Understaffed and overworked

At a time when Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan would be inaugurating the Road Safety Fortnight starting today, its very own departments -- Traffic and Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) -- are grappling with a massive manpower shortage. "We have only 14 officers who are a part of a flying squad to keep a tab on errant motorists," said a senior transport official, requesting anonymity. According to RTO officials, to fill the deficit, the existing officers are forced to work overtime on a regular basis.

Similarly, even the Mumbai Traffic Police is working hard to cope with a deficit of 1,633 personnel against the sanctioned strength of 3,353. "The Traffic police can either increase the manpower or augment their surveillance via CCTV cams. This will help them keep an eye on all the junctions, and eliminate the need of being physically present at the spot," said A V Shenoy, a traffic expert.

Referring to Traffic department's latest crackdown against drink driving, sources from within the department disclosed that the manpower shortage has curtailed the department's ability in executing multiple drives simultaneously.

Confirming the vacancies, S K Sharma, Transport secretary, said, "There are several posts lying vacant and soon, something will be done about them."

Total number of vacanciesu00a0across all the RTOs in Maharashtra

Total number of vacancies at Andheri, Mumbai Central and Wadala RTOs

Rash drivingu00a0 9,921 6,212 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0u00a07,687

Speeding 15,448 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a017,841 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a010,548

Jumping signal 234575 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a03,76,510 u00a0 u00a0 3,39,850

Lane cutting 87771 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a01,12,278 u00a0 u00a0 1,12,560