To tackle Bengaluru’s infamous traffic problem, which made headlines again recently during the recent chaos on Outer Ring Road (ORR) ahead of the long weekend, the city police have roped in the law and order police to help their traffic counterparts smoothen the traffic flow during peak hours.
City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda said that the plan to rope in civil police to manage traffic along with regular traffic policemen is not only to ensure vehicle discipline among road users, but also share the burden of the traffic policemen. Though this plan was mooted three months ago, it has been enforced recently due to the increasing traffic flow due to festive seasons and other programmes. “The combined efforts of the traffic police and civil police officers will improve traffic management, help in reducing congestion and in minimising travel time for the city’s residents and commuters,” he added.
Major roads in Bengaluru ahead of Gandhi Jayanti and the long weekend preceding it, which included Eid Milad holiday on Thursday and the Karnataka bandh on Friday, were hit by unusually high traffic congestion. The September 27 incident led to the Bengaluru Traffic Police and Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) introducing measures to pre-empt such a situation, including imposing a ban on heavy vehicular traffic movement from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“Bengaluru, known as a tech hub, is growing uncontrollably in terms of population and the number of vehicles added to it. The initiative of police personnel handholding each other to address this burning issue will help resolve the issues in many ways. Road discipline among motorists is as notorious as the traffic problem in the city. The traffic policemen at the junction are busy managing the traffic, while the civil police can oversee the road discipline issues like ensuring traffic discipline, monitor violations like haphazard parking, jaywalking, unnecessary honking, road rage, and reckless driving. The presence of policemen in uniform patrolling on the busy roads will bring in better behaviour among the motorists,” said C.K. Baba, DCP, South East.
Many road users welcomed the decision hoping that this could help them reach their destinations sooner. Rajashekharan, a resident of HSR Layout and working in a tech company in Electronics City, said that he spends over a hour and half to commute to his office every day. “Reaching the office and back home is a challenging task. I hope the traffic police come up with some ideas to solve the traffic problems and ensure smoother commutes for citizens,” he added.
