The India Chapter of the International Road Federation (IRF), a global road safety organization, recently hosted a lecture titled “Traffic Enforcement in India – Why is it not successful in achieving correction in behavior of road users?”
Speaking at the event, Ms. Monika Bhardwaj, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Zone-1, emphasized the role of inadequate and poorly maintained road infrastructure in contributing to traffic indiscipline in Delhi. She pointed out that factors such as poorly designed intersections, narrow roads, lack of maintenance, and rampant encroachments severely impact traffic flow and encourage erratic driving behavior.
“Since 1981, while road infrastructure in the National Capital has only doubled, the number of vehicles has increased 21 times. Today, Delhi is home to nearly 1.5 crore vehicles,” she noted. Ms. Bhardwaj highlighted key causes of traffic congestion in the city, including the rapid growth in vehicular population, stagnant infrastructure development, mixed traffic patterns, and limited enforcement capacity.
The session underscored the urgent need for integrated road infrastructure planning and stronger enforcement mechanisms to promote responsible road user behavior.
She pointed out that apart from limited road space, outdated road engineering, poor signage and markings, widespread encroachments, and illegal roadside parking are major contributors to long traffic snarls in the capital. “Addressing these issues requires coordinated action among the police, Delhi government, and civic bodies,” she stressed, adding, “It’s ironic that the PWD does not even have a dedicated division for road signage and markings.”
Ms. Bhardwaj also revealed that Delhi issued around 75 lakh traffic challans in 2024—a figure that has remained unchanged over the past five years. “With a vehicle population of 1.5 crore, this implies that each vehicle has been challaned approximately three times. Alarmingly, 55 to 60 lakh of these are end-of-life vehicles still plying on city roads,” she said, noting that these vehicles will be a focus area for Delhi Traffic Police in the near future.
She further highlighted the lack of clarity and consistency in road signage, saying, “We’re in discussions with the PWD and civic authorities to improve signage and markings. However, the frequent changes in codes and protocols confuse both enforcement agencies and commuters. Additionally, rectifying these issues involves significant costs.”
Addressing enforcement gaps, Ms. Bhardwaj pointed out that Delhi has only 4,000 traffic police personnel, each receiving just two weeks of training. “Most officers are diverted to other duties, such as VIP movements and festivals. Despite the era of invisible enforcement, Delhi still lacks an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS),” she said.
She also criticized the role of Lok Adalats in weakening traffic discipline. “Letting off violators with minimal fines leads to a culture where traffic violations are normalized. This must change,” she concluded.
“India accounts for over 11% of global road accidents,” said Mr. Akhilesh Srivastava, President of the International Road Federation (IRF), India Chapter, during the recent lecture on traffic enforcement. Highlighting IRF’s commitment to reducing road fatalities, he emphasized the organization’s focus on the 5 E’s of Road Safety—Engineering of Roads, Engineering of Vehicles, Education, Enforcement, and Emergency Care.
The event was attended by several key figures in the field of transportation and road safety, including Mr. Gurpreet Singh Basra, Business Unit Head – Traffic & Transit; Mr. P.K. Sikdar, Advisor, IRF; and Mr. Manoranjan Parida, Director, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI).
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