Utter disregard for human life

A recent report claimed that around 2000 traffic rules are broken in a span of two hours in the City. Such widespread apathy is not only restricted to traffic rules but to everything in our day-to-day life where there is a necessity of order.

People litter, spit on the road, smoke in public places, urinate and defecate in public, jump queues and almost do every thing that could cause inconvenience to others.

In spite of laws being made and heavy fines being levied, people continue to break rules. Metrolife asks people in the City why such widespread callousness exists when it comes to following rules?

Wg Cdr P S Krishnaswamy, a retired airforce officer, says that the trouble lies in the poor quality of life.

“Population should have been controlled long time back. One of the main reasons for this apathy is the complete disregard for human life. Even if a chap gets killed on the streets, people don’t give a damn. Kids in our country don’t have a day’s meal to eat — etiquette and rules are a forgotten issue when the basic needs are not met.”

It is all about imbibing a certain etiquette and responsibility from very early on and the best way of doing that is by educating school children about the rules and regulations that need to be followed for order in the society.

Manmeet Kaur, a customer service representative in the banking sector says, “Two things need to be done to create responsible citizens. Firstly, catch them young by creating awareness in schools. Secondly, the law and enforcement need to be strengthened – stricter punishments might do the trick. There also exists a certain hypocrisy in our society where we are always complaining that the government is inefficient. But most of us forget our own responsibility when it comes to sharing a public space.”

Another problem is that most people in the City don’t know whom to approach when an issue crops up.

Kalyan Srinivas, a businessman, says, “The problem is that people don’t know where to ask for the right information. They are unaware of something as simple as knowing what the fine amount is when you break a traffic rule. The traffic policeman too takes advantage of the ignorance of people and levies fines according to his whims and fancies. The issue is lack of information and it is only when people know the rules, they will make a conscious effort not to break them.”

The behaviour of an individual is also dependent on the environment.

The reason why people don’t break any rules in other countries is because the order and discipline around forces them to adapt to the same lifestyle.

“I smoke. While in Singapore, I would walk all the way to the dustbin to drop the cigarette butt, over here, I just drop it anywhere as there is already so much litter on the road,” adds Kalyan.