The traffic wing of the East Singhbhum District Police has crippled ahead of Christmas, as its lone interceptor vehicle has got defunct following the damage of its camera a couple of days ago.

The interceptor vehicle, which used to curb rash driving by the four-wheelers and SUVs on important roads, including the marine drive, had to be put back in its garage at the police control room after the damage.

In its absence, four-wheeler riders have sought to rash driving, leaving the vehicular traffic management at the mercy of God.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Babban Singh confirmed the news after, saying the vehicle’s camera broke due to an accidental fall during handling.

“The camera of the interceptor vehicle was broken during handling by its technician. We have already taken initiatives to get it repaired by a concerned agency. It is expected that the interceptor vehicle will be back in place for the service in a month time,” Singh said while talking to The Telegraph Online.

The official said that the police used to place the vehicle at strategic points in several places, including Bistupur Main Road and Bistupur-Sonari-Kadma Link Road, for taking action on those indulging in rash driving.

A traffic police official operates the interceptor at Sonari in Jamshedpur.

However, for the past five days, they cannot use the vehicle for such surveillance.

Singh said that the 11 kilometres-long marine drive was the main focus point of the vehicle, as drivers tend to reach maximum speeds while crossing the area, often resulting in accidents.

“But until the interceptor is not mended, we will try to control the rash driving manually. We have identified points on the marine drive where the maximum speed limit will be on the display board.”

He informed that for some points the speed limit has been set at 20 kilometers per hour, while at others, it is 60 kilometers per hour.

“We will try to curb the rash driving by putting up traffic police at crucial points,” the DSP said.

Since the operations of the Domuhani bridge, which connects the marine drive at Sonari with Dobo in Chandil, started in March last year, traffic on marine drive has increased. Riders, especially two-wheeler ones, from the steel city tend to go on joy rides to the NH-33 through the bridge.

Frequent accidents take place at the Chandil side of the bridge, where policing is not too strong making riders opt for high speeds. With the interceptor getting defunct, they have indulged in further reckless driving.

It is being assumed that there will be a heavy rush of vehicle riders at the Domuhani bridge point during the coming Christmas and year-end festivity, giving the traffic police a challenging job for managing a smooth passage of vehicles.

A senior traffic police officer, who wished to be anonymous, said that a city like Jamshedpur needs more than one speed limit radar (SLR) for curbing unruly bikers.

“We have an interceptor vehicle for the four-wheelers, but no such electronic gadget to check on unruly bikers. The district administration should now obtain SLRs and introduce them in the traffic department for effective control of bikers,” he said.