The Mumbai Police on Saturday evening introduced a colour-coding system for vehicles engaged in essential services to ensure they do not get stuck in traffic jams or in arguments with the law enforcers.
With Covid-19 cases increasing at an alarming rate, the state government had imposed strict lockdown from 8 pm on 14 April till the month-end, however, this did not deter people to step out or bringing their vehicles on roads resulting in crowding and traffic congestion at important places, roads and junctions, forcing the law enforcement authorities to take this step.
The police have been unable to implement the new set of curfew rules as the officers have to stop all vehicles coming into Mumbai at their checkpoints in Dahisar, Mulund, and Mankhurd.
This is leading to huge traffic jams and the police have to act leniently, allowing some vehicles to pass without checking them. To avoid such chaos, a new system was introduced by Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale effective Saturday evening. Vehicles engaged in providing essential services will be given three sets of colours. Red stickers have to be pasted on vehicles with doctors, nurses, medical staff, medicines, ambulances, test kits and all medical equipment in them. Vehicles transporting essential food items like vegetables, grocery, dairy products, fruits, bakery items, and others would bear green stickers. Yellow stickers would be used by the rest of the vehicles engaged in providing essential services like government employees in BMC, BEST, MTNL, and the media among others.
“The vehicle owners, on their own, will have to paste a six-inch sticker on their car’s front screen. We are also providing stickers at nakabandis free of charge. The policy has been implemented from Saturday evening. Those who try to misuse these stickers will be booked for cheating and under other appropriate sections of laws,” he added.
The police have been allowing only those vehicles providing essential services to enter the city on Saturday. Those without any valid reason have either been penalised or asked to return which caused traffic congestion. Now after the colour coding system, police assures easy flow on the roads for the vehicles providing essential services.