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Will to show the way
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The traffic hold-ups and diversions to facilitate VIP movement are a thing of the past. GOUTAM GHOSH throws light on the steps taken to ensure smooth flow of traffic on the city roads.
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WHAT YOU or I see at traffic signals and manned junctions are the mess, violations and the constables. Those men in white and khaki trying to streamline the traffic, or waiting in the wings with a notebook to jot down the registration number of a transgressing vehicle. I haven't seen a woman traffic constable yet, though the Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, G.U.G. Sastry, said some women from the Armed Reserve Police were being trained in traffic management. The traffic constables jump up like jack-in-the-boxes or spring to attention when an officer's car (the white four-door vehicles with dark sun film on glass and a rotating Lumax lamp on top) passes by. Their open palms shoot up to the forehead to salute the invisible person within. They cannot see if the officer acknowledges the salute.
In a highly stratified police set-up, seniors tend to talk down to juniors, and respect, it seems from my decades-long exposure, is one-way. Most ministers ignore police officers who, as the Deputy Commissioner of Traffic (South), Karuna Sagar said, ``are required as bureaucrats to serve the elected representatives of the people.'' Mr. Sagar instinctively acknowledged the salute of every constable on the way.
The car's wireless worked untiringly. ``Mike 21 (Mr. Sagar's identity on the wireless) to Control. A fishcart with pipes. Heading to Central. Detain. Over'', ``Control to mike 21. Good morning, sir. Informed, sir. Over.'' The exchange took a few seconds and by the time Mr. Sagar's car turned onto the Gandhi Irwin bridge, the fishcart would have been detained, Mr. Sagar assured me. ``I'll check that later,'' he said. ``Mike 21 to Control. Overloaded auto (gives the number) towards Santhome. Stop and chargesheet. Over,'' ``Control to mike 21. Inspector informed, sir. Over,'' ``Roger.'' ``Mike 12 (JCP Traffic) to mike 21. Please call me over the cell,'' ``Roger, sir. Calling you back. Over.''
The clipped directives and conversation continued, with Mr. Sagar breaking off every now and then mid-sentence to issue orders on his microphone. By the time the car took a U-turn near the Stella Maris College and headed toward the Rajaji Salai (Beach Road), seven traffic violators, including a blue Zen parked in the ``No Parking'' zone there, were identified, with action to be taken firmly instructed over the wireless.
``You must see how we handle the traffic for the CM's convoy. The convoy merges with the traffic. The flow is not stopped to allow it to pass,'' Mr. Sagar said. Inside the car, the wireless was crisp and clear, with every communication between the wireless handsets and the sophisticated ones in the police cars audible. ``Sitting in the car, I know what's being done with the traffic in the city. Our system is independent and does not interfere with that of the Law and Order wing,'' he said.
The wireless in the car came to life at 10-36 a.m. on Friday, March 15. The pilot car of the CM's convoy stated its position at each stage: ``Music Academy fly-over'' ``Nilgiris'' ``Natesan Road'' ``Gandhi Statue''. At that instant, the CM's convoy took a left turn and headed north. A few minutes later, the pilot car stated ``Arrived'' and went off the air.
Till the convoy reached the point, the manually controlled traffic moved as usual. The signals had been switched off. The northbound traffic was stopped for six seconds for the CM's convoy to take the turn before it was allowed to move. Less time than it takes at the Periyar Bridge signal, the Kotturpuram signal or the Lattice Bridge Road signal.
``The CM does not want to cause difficulty to the people,'' said Mr. Sagar. Was the comment intended to impress the newsperson? It didn't seem so, because the traffic was never stopped longer than necessary for others to take a turn on to the Radhakrishnan Salai, or vehicles from there to turn right towards Santhome. The Black Cat commandos were there, packed into four cars around the CM's vehicle, but beyond that there was nothing extra to aid it along. The traffic moved as usual.
``The stretch is manned by constables, none with walkie-talkies. They depend on the visual cues, and that helps the traffic movement. The days of freezing the traffic for 15-20 minutes to allow VIP movements are over,'' Mr. Sagar said. The event did not seem to have been stage-managed, so it was most likely to be true. ``The CM's convoy moves this way routinely now,'' he said.
Weaknesses in traffic control remain, given the physical and fund constraints to improve the facilities. But some of it can be set right with insight and determination. And it seems that the young team of city traffic police officers have both aplenty.
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