One traffic police for every 3,300 vehicles

By Dheeraj Fartode

Nagpur boasts of big and wide roads that are the envy of many. But even these big roads are falling short of requirements as every other day, hundreds of new vehicles are coming onto the roads. Making the matter worse is the absence of police personnel at the heavy traffic junctions and the reason is manpower crunch. Only one traffic cop is available for every 3,300 vehicles in Nagpur for monitoring. The traffic jams across the city are giving a harrowing time to the road users. The handful of police personnel deployed for regulation of traffic are hardly able to do justice as they are overwhelmed by the demand of time and other constraints.

The manpower crunch in Traffic Police Department and increasing vehicle population are likely to aggravate problem in the worst condition in near future. A 2015 report by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), which works under the Ministry of Home Affairs, recommended one traffic personnel for every 700 vehicles. In contrast, Nagpur city has just one traffic cop against around 3,300 vehicles, as per the record available with Police establishment.

A senior police official said that 554 constables and 28 police officers were working in 10 zones of Nagpur traffic police while the vehicle population in Nagpur was around 19,39,070. Of this 15,74,199 are two-wheelers and 1,95,858 are four-wheelers. If one calculates the ratio, it comes to just one cop to monitor 3,300 vehicles in the city.

When asked, Additional Commissioner of Police (Retd) Dilip Zalke, informed The Hitavada that it's difficult for the police officers to manage the traffic with such huge vacancies. He also pointed out the uneven deployment of traffic police personnel and stated that he saw just two to three traffic cops at heavy traffic junctions, while a group of 5-6 traffic cops can be seen chatting in the evening at Lokmanya Nagar where the traffic flow is smooth.

Vigilant citizen Anil Wadpalliwar stated that if the BPRD has recommended one cop for 700 vehicles, the number post of traffic police in Nagpur should be increased to 2,770. The citizens are fed up with regular traffic jams at important junctions, a new feature as earlier traffic was moving seamlessly, he said.

On the request of anonymity, a traffic police official stated that it has become very difficult for them to manage the traffic congestion points. Though CCTVs are installed across the city and a control room was also set up for monitoring, in absence of ground staff, technological advancement cannot alone achieve the goal of smart policing, he pointed out. The CCTVs are just for monitoring but when there is traffic chaos, you need a cop to regulate the movement of vehicles and restore order on the ground, he said further.

Earlier, the traffic branch was divided into the Zonal offices covering an area of almost six police stations. Later, the offices were cut short into Division level, covering the jurisdiction of three police stations each. The number of field offices increased from five to 10 but the manpower was not increased to desired and needed level. While urban centres are more identified for fast-moving life, the traffic snarls is colossal wastage of time and off course money. It's high time the planners give a thought and invest money in manpower.