At a time when Bengaluru city traffic police are issuing guidelines to various establishments to hire private guards to regulate traffic and parking, the Outer Ring Road Companies’ Association (ORRCA), which represents all companies on Outer Ring Road (ORR), is helping the traffic police and civic authorities to manage traffic by deploying marshals on the 20-km stretch.
Every morning, around 7 a.m., 25 marshals hired and trained by ORRCA will arrive at Bellandur and divide their work under four jurisdictional traffic police stations on ORR and start managing the traffic along with the police. Apart from ORR, the marshals will also manage traffic on arterial and sub-arterial roads near the ORR.
Speaking to The Hindu, Krishna Kumar Gowda, operations manager, ORRCA, said: “They have been working tirelessly for the last 12 years to manage traffic with the police. Now, we have also trained them to be civic warriors where they will also tackle civic issues.”
After controlling the traffic during peak hours, the marshals will identify the potholes, footpath damage, illegal road digging, and illegal garbage dumping and alert the civic agencies concerned. “All marshals have qualified till Class X or XII. Before they go to the ground, they are trained by ORRCA in rules and regulations on traffic and civic policies so that they are aware about what they are doing. During the pandemic, they were also involved in creating awareness about COVID appropriate behaviour,” Mr. Gowda added.
Recently, the marshals have been given GPS-enabled cameras to capture various civic issues which they will share to the authorities for further action. Marshals have been working to decrease the threats faced by OFC cables on footpaths for pedestrians by alerting the agencies. P. Kulkarni, ORRCA traffic administrator, said that recently, electric mobility startup Yulu provided the marshals their bike facilities which can be used to travel from one point to another on ORR during work hours.
The commuters are also happy to see the marshals working on the ground and helping them. Nagesh Kumar A., a frequent commuter from HSR Layout to K.R. Puram, said he had benefited from the service of marshals when his car broke down in the middle of the road. “I panicked since other vehicles were also stuck and it was leading to a traffic jam. Immediately, the marshals came and helped to put aside my car, managed the traffic well, and helped me take the car to the nearest service centre,” Mr. Kumar said.
