CHENNAI: It was yet another busy week for Inspector Ramesh and his team. Not only were they involved with the regular traffic regulation and checking violation, but also they were erecting reflective sign boards, flash lights to warn median breaks, extending the stone median and laying huge unmovable barricades to slow down the traffic.
This is all part of the Chennai city traffic police’s new initiative – adopting a road – wherein a traffic police station would improve conditions of a small stretch of road in its limits. In the first phase, the city police are targeting as many as 65 hotspots, such as accident-prone zones, heavy traffic congestion areas, and bottlenecks.
“Usually this work is shared with at least three different departments dragging the process for several days. To paint a speed breaker and a zebra crossing, the departments ask for days of paperwork, and won’t be completed even after constant pestering,” said an officer.
“Though this may look small, we have put in a lot of effort so that it helps motorists. We adopted a 500-metre stretch where we installed new signboards, flash lights on median breaks for the sake of motorists,” said Ramesh from Poonamallee Traffic Enforcement.
He added, “We have also put up reflective sign boards on one-ways, alongside heavy barricades, so that people do not move it when policemen are not around. We also painted the pedestrian crossing last week.”
Public-police bonding initiative
A few hundred metres at the beginning of the Poonamallee Highroad now has no encroachments, and no illegal parking, making way for the urban dwellers. Speaking to TNIE, Dr N Kannan, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said, the initiative was a part of public-police bonding, where the personnel would note important stretches which need makeover, and with the help of residents and shopkeepers, do a facelift.
Talking about the initiative, Suresh Souli, an advocate said, that law stated that the police and other road departments like RTO, Highway department and the corporation are allowed to take care of the roads in general.