Dharamvir Verma, Gurgaon's traffic man: When people come here, they should say waah Gurgaon ka traffic sense bada achha hai

Be it heat, cold, rain or hail, if you visit the Sector 4-7 crossing in Gurgaon during peak hours, you will find one constant presence – that of a resident holding a banner with a message of road safety written on it, either educating commuters or helping traffic cops manage the traffic. That man is Dharmvir Verma, who – in the past year – has emerged as Gurgaon’s traffic man thanks to his unusual campaigns. A lawyer by profession, Verma became a social media celebrity in the process of spreading his message of road safety and helping traffic cops. For Verma, his transformation into the traffic man was accidental. In 2012, he was stuck in a traffic jam with a friend while returning from a wedding. “The jam was so bad that a few of us had to get out of our cars and manage the traffic. That’s when I realised what citizens can achieve on the road,” he recounts. After that incident, Verma would voluntarily help traffic cops to manage traffic every once in a while and he even joined Gurgaon’s Road Safety Organisation – a group of volunteers working towards road safety. But it wasn’t until December 2017 that he started his now-famous road safety campaign.
“I realised that merely helping at the busy intersections wasn’t doing the trick. I needed to get my message across, which is why I printed a big 4-feet by 6-feet banner with a message about road safety and started standing at the Sector 4-7 crossing during peak hours,” Verma says.




Initially, the lawyer would stand in the middle of the crossing, directing traffic, and he says the commuters acknowledged his presence by voluntarily following rules. Since then, Verma is seen at the intersection daily, often taking his message to other parts of the city as well, including Rajiv Chowk, HUDA City Centre and Sohna Road. “I go wherever I am needed. This crossing is close to my home so I come here, but I have been to other spots in Gurgaon too,” he says. As time went by, he then printed more banners and made his traffic-management duties a daily affair. He tells us, “I go to the crossing twice a day for over an hour each time, once during the morning around 9am and once in the evening close to 5pm. That’s the peak hour and that’s when the traffic at the busy intersection needs to be managed.” Verma has over a dozen banners with him, and now, he gets one made for every occasion. His messages range from advice on wearing helmets and not littering to driving within the lanes as well as the importance of teaching kids about traffic rules. “I like to keep changing the messages,” he elaborates, “I get the text from my experiences on the roads. I come across something new and I want to talk about it so I write it down. I made a new banner for New Year’s and the pictures are going viral on social media now. Even people from places like Indore and Meerut are reaching out to me.”
But it’s not just residents who are reaching out to him, he says that over time, a lot of corporate companies have shown interest in his mission as well, offering to support his drive. “Companies show interest, some are genuine while some just want to cash in on it. There have been people who have told me that they will pay me a sizable amount if I put their company’s logo on my banners. Maine kaha, logo toh kabhi nahi lagaunga. It’s not about the money for me. I make enough money through my practice. This is my mission,” says Verma.
The lawyer says that his initiative is not just a gimmick, as it has produced results too. He says, “When I started not more than 40% of the vehicles here followed rules. People would jump lights and not give pedestrians way. Now, that figure is up to 90%. This crossing never sees any jams. Even at other places, people fall back in line if I’m standing there with my banners. People get conscious when they see me. They stop, look at the banner, some even talk to me or shake my hand. I’m glad that this little initiative is making a difference.” The lawyer was even recognised by the district administration for his efforts, who honoured him at the Independence Day celebrations last year.

Dharmvir Verma has been spreading his message of road safety and helping traffic cops voluntarily since 2017

And while he may have achieved a lot, Verma feels there is a still long way to go, particularly when it comes to changing Gurgaon’s road culture. “Gurgaon’s motorists are weird. When we go to Delhi, seat belt ekdum pehen lete hain. When we go to Chandigarh, we don’t use phones while driving. But yahi saare rules apne shehar mein follow nahi karte. We always give example of Chandigarh and say wahan ka traffic sense bada achha hai. But the residents there are just people like us. Why can’t we do that? I want that when people from Chandigarh come here, they should say waah Gurgaon ka traffic sense bada achha hai. That should be our resolution for 2019,” he says before signing off.