Angels on the road

While everybody in the City is gearing up to usher in the New Year in style, streamlining Bangalore’s traffic on December 31, will be about 200 traffic wardens who will be deputed at strategic locations, alongside the Bangalore Traffic Police, to ensure that there is no hitch in the smooth flow of vehicles or any hiccups in revelry.

There are not less than 600 traffic wardens in the City. Traffic wardens comprise
people from all walks of life such as software engineers, teachers, school principals and a few industrialists as well, who volunteer their service, to spread awareness about road safety and dedicate most weekends, assisting the Bangalore Traffic Police in managing the traffic.

   What is common to all traffic wardens is a certain passion, commitment and determination, to inculcate values of road safety in people.

This is precisely what the traffic wardens will be doing on New Year’s Eve from 8 pm to 2 am.

Chief traffic warden MT Naik points out that the main task of traffic wardens is enforcement of the existing traffic rules.

“There will be about 200 traffic wardens on New Year’s Eve. In addition to regulating and controlling the movement of people and traffic in the Central Business District such as MG Road, Cubbon Road, Brigade Road, Residency Road, we will have traffic wardens in areas where there is minimal police presence such as KR Puram, JP Nagar and Jayanagar,” informs Naik.

  Dr Mohanan Nambiar, another senior traffic warden, says every year he and his team of men, work until 1 am on New Year’s Eve.

 “It is a challenge to control the swelling crowd on MG Road and Brigade Road. We assemble on KR Road at 8 pm and then move to different locations in the City. Surprisingly, people have been very cooperative,” he says. 

S Satyapal, deputy chief traffic warden, central division feels that policing
on New year’s Eve is a tough task. “The Bangalore Traffic Police has asked for wardens to be deputed in sensitive points across the City. We spend most of our time on the road, educating people about road safety and New Year’s Eve will be no different. It’s always a challenge to go out there and get motorists to fall in line with the rules,” Satyapal observes.

Additional commissioner of police (traffic) B Dayananda feels traffic wardens play an important part in assisting traffic police in enforcing the existing rules.

“We have asked for at least 60 traffic wardens to be deputed in and around MG Road, Brigade Road and Cubbon Road. A few of them will be diverted to Jayanagar and Basavanagudi as well.

It is a lot of burden off our shoulders,” says Dayananda. Bangaloreans feel traffic wardens work selflessly with no ulterior motive. Ashutosh Autade, an IT professional, thinks traffic wardens brave the dust, pollution, ear deafening horns just to help people get home safe.

  “I would love to call them as the angels of traffic management because they do a good job of traffic management. But I noticed that most of them don’t have basic safety gears such as gloves, dust protectors and safety jackets. This must be given,” says Ashutosh.  Roopa Rao, a software engineer, feels no different from Ashutosh.

“You want to listen to traffic wardens because they work so selflessly and more than anything they aren’t corrupt,” she sums up.