A week after the colour-coded stickers were introduced and made it mandatory for motorists engaged in essential and emergency services in the city, the Mumbai Police announced to discontinue the system early on Saturday morning.
Even as the colour-coded sticker categorisation has been discontinued, police will continue to conduct thorough inspection at checkpoints and nakabandis in the city to ensure that people comply with the lockdown rules and non-essential movements are avoided.
The move comes hours after the Mumbai Police's main control room issued a notice on the orders of Chaitanya S, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), addressing all police personnel informing that the colour-coded sticker drive will be discontinued.
In a tweet, the Mumbai Police said in the wee hours of Saturday, "Dear Mumbaikars. The red, yellow, green #EmergencyStickers categorisation is being discontinued. However, thorough checks shall continue & we hope you will stand by us in #TakingOnCorona & avoid all non-essential/non-emergency movement outside home #StayHomeStaySafe"
A senior police official said that the decision to discontinue the colour-coded stickers system was due to the confusion that had arisen in the minds of the people over the its use and the fear that since it could be easily made at home, there was a high risk of the stickers being misused for ulterior motives.
Moreover, the colour-coded sticker system had created traffic snarls at entry and exit points of the city with vehicles lining up about 1 km for verification.
The Mumbai Police had earlier made the stickers mandatory for those people who belong to certain professions or travelling for certain purposes can travel using red, green or yellow stickers. These stickers were to be collected from officials at check posts or even made by people themselves. The move was highly criticised by the traffic experts as the colour code stickers could easily be misused.
Last week, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale had posted a video asking essential services providers to self-tag their vehicles, looking at the traffic snarls at entry and exit points of Mumbai city during peak hours, despite a lockdown being announced. The six-inch circular self-tags were asked to be stuck to the front and backside of the vehicle, according to the professions.
