Probably realising that people in Mumbai follow rules only if they are forcefully enforced, the city traffic police is continuing their stringent drive against those flouting norms. Between March 3 and 8, the police have penalised 44,650 motorists and collected Rs 33.78 lakh as fine.

Motorists are mostly being booked for offences like signal jumping and illegal parking. The largest number of offenders, 9099, were those found parking illegally.

The police are also continuing their drive against bikers on JJ flyover. Dr. BK Upadhyay, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said: "The ban of bikers on JJ flyover is for their safety; but many bikers still take the flyover and there have been many mishaps involving them. We have therefore started a stringent drive against bikers. I have instructed the Colaba traffic division (south) and the Pydhonie traffic division (north) to bar bikers from their ends taking the flyover and fine those caught violating the rule."

Between February 25 and March 8, the Colaba division booked 1,185 bikers while the Pydhonie division recorded 1,274 cases against bikers for taking the flyover.

The traffic police also booked 5,639 people for jumping signals; 5,313 for riding without helmet. There were also 2,199 cases of overloading on vehicles, 2028 cases of tinted films on four-wheelers, and 1,250 cases of stopping vehicles on pedestrian-crossings. Along with these, there were also 374 cases of drink-driving between March 3 and 8.

The traffic police have also turned their attention on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link; 43 motorists have been booked for speeding on this stretch.

A traffic official said: "We have given civic and infrastructure agencies NOC for asphalting 243 city roads before the monsoon. These roads are problem areas in the rainy season with traffic jams or mishaps causing inconvenience to motorists."