Summary:
Union minister of roads and highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday strongly defended hefty challans for traffic violations that were made effective from September 1 and revealed that his vehicle was fined for speeding on the Worli Bandra Sea Link. He further informed that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and union minister of state for roads and highways VK Singh too had to pay fine for speeding. The Act provides for a penalty of Rs 10,000 for not giving way to emergency vehicles and Rs 10,000 for driving despite disqualification. Penalty for dangerous driving has been increased to Rs 5,000, while drunken driving now attracts a fine of Rs 10,000. Gadkari informed that projects worth Rs 14,000 crore are being implemented to remove black spots on roads; 786 black spots have been identified already..