Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav may have inaugurated Jalandhar’s Rs. 42-crore Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) with promises of transforming traffic discipline and boosting city surveillance, but on the ground the system is already drawing criticism. Despite its much-hyped launch, the e-challan mechanism is still not live, leaving residents to call the rollout “half-baked” and poorly prepared.
Under the first phase of ITMS, officials announced a comprehensive setup anchored at the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) in Police Lines. It was said to integrate 142 high-resolution cameras across 13 key junctions, including 102 Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, 40 Red Light Violation Detection (RLVD) cameras, 83 bullet cameras, four PTZ cameras, and 30 Visual Message Display screens. A total of 1,003 cameras are planned in subsequent phases, supported by public address systems and emergency call boxes.
One of the most important enforcement measures announced was the automated e-challan system, integrated with NIC’s VAHAN and SARATHI databases, designed to automatically penalise red-light jumping, overspeeding and wrong-side driving. But residents say that while the technology has been installed, the law has not followed.
Police confirmed that 16 speed violation detection cameras have been mounted at PAP Chowk and Bidhipur Railway Crossing, but these are yet to start functioning as no speed limit signboards have been installed at the sites. On September 29, the very first day of monitoring, the cameras detected 3,728 violations — yet not a single challan was issued.
ADCP (Operations & Security) Vineet Ahlawat defended the pause, saying the system has been deliberately kept in an observation phase. “The number of challans will decide when the system goes fully live. A time period is being given to residents to adapt,” he said, framing the delay as a phased enforcement strategy.
Commissioner of Police Dhanpreet Kaur added that the police have asked the Municipal Corporation to coordinate the installation of speed-limit signboards and that awareness drives will precede full activation.
But commuters argue that the delay reflects poor planning. “Only challans will make people follow rules. Cameras without fines are useless,” said Harpreet Singh, a city resident.
Another commuter, Neha Sharma, added, “This awareness period is not for us, it’s for the police to adapt. If they weren’t ready, why announce a launch?”
The absence of a clear date for when e-challans will actually begin has left residents even more frustrated. “Hundreds of violations are being recorded, but no one is being penalised. What is the point of this Rs 42crore project if it isn’t ready to act?” asked Rajinder Pal, a shopkeeper near PAP Chowk, adding why didn't police hold a trial period for awareness.
He said for now, Jalandhar’s ITMS is caught between ceremony and enforcement. The cameras are up, the violations are being logged — but the fines, and the discipline they promise, are still missing.
