JOIN USSoon the City will have more traffic police stations to manage the increasing traffic woes, said the Home Minister K J George.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the 26th Road safety Week organised at the Kanteerava stadium.
“With the increase in population, there is a need to increase the number of traffic police stations. We have sent a proposal in this regard to the State government and the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has given his consent for it and the police department is working on the modalities of the proposal,” he said.
As of now, the City has only 42 traffic police stations for a population of over 1.3 crore, he said. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) B Dayananda said that there are 10 more police stations coming up which include three traffic police stations and seven law and order ones. The three traffic police stations will be in HSR Layout, Mahadevpura and KR Puram, he added.
Earlier, the Home Minister said that road safety is not just the City police's responsibility but also of every citizen. “Before getting on the road, take an oath to follow rules,” he said. George advised the police department to start awareness lessons in schools and train the students to follow traffic rules from an early age.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said in 2014, as many as 729 persons had died in road accidents and over 4,000 persons were injured. “It is unfortunate that the number of persons dying in road accidents or being severely injured are increasing. Awareness on preventing road accidents should be given to schoolchildren.”.
This year, the theme for road safety awareness week was “Not slogans alone, but a lifestyle.” The Road safety awareness week will be celebrated from Jan 28 to Feb 3. Over 2,000 persons participated in the event, many of them schoolchildren who enthusiastically visited the stalls set up by various departments and NGOs. More than 30,000 school students filled the stadium where around 2000 students participated and performed drills and parades. Over 400 schools in the City attended the event.
Madiwala is the best
The Madiwala police station was awarded the best traffic police station in the City.
The station collected a revenue of Rs 2.6 crore as fines from traffic violators. Through sustained efforts, the police were able to reduce the number of fatalities in traffic accidents from 50 in 2013 to 35 in 2014 under the jurisdiction of the Madiwala traffic police station.
Praising the traffic cops for their efficient service to manage traffic and keep traffic violations in check in the City, George felicitated them.