BENGALURU: The Bengaluru City Police Traffic Warden Organization (BCPTWO), currently comprises 900 volunteers, with only 62 of them being women.
Despite recruitment drives taking place twice a year, the number of volunteer participants remains discouraging, said Srinivas Shenoy, Deputy Chief Traffic Warden.
“In Bengaluru, a city with a population of over a crore, we currently have 900 volunteers. This number has increased from 350 to 900 following the Covid-19 pandemic. But given that Bengaluru has more than 40,000 junctions, it is practically impossible for our current volunteer force to regulate them all.”
While explaining about the recruitment drive, he explained, “The operations revolve around three core divisions: regulation, education, and engineering. In the regulation division, every warden dedicates around 16 hours to traffic duty in a month. We conduct educational programs aimed at raising traffic safety awareness among students. Additionally, the engineering efforts focus on improving road infrastructure to keep up with the city’s development. At night, construction vehicles often cause traffic chaos, leading to subsequent issues. In such cases, the volunteers engage with the relevant agencies to resolve those problems.”
Shedding light on the increasing road accidents and the need to emphasise on safety awareness, he said, “Active participation from the public is important, as following safety rules can significantly reduce accidents. Prioritizing safety over haste is essential.” Wearing helmets and adhering to safety regulations can prevent unfortunate incidents.
“We are a self-driven organization that asks nothing in return but recognizing our volunteers is essential for motivating them. Acknowledgement from the government can encourage volunteers to perform better,” he added.