Wanted: More cops to manage traffic in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The number of vehicles in Bengaluru has increased this year to 80.45 lakh from 74.06 lakh in 2018. With such rapid rise in vehicle population, the traffic police department is finding it difficult to manage the chaos on the roads, especially during peak hours. With a huge shortfall in the number of personnel manning the traffic on busy streets, it’s no wonder that both the cops as well as the commuters are left stressed out.

Currently, there are about 3,400 traffic personnel in the city, with almost 500-700 deployed in each division. The department requires at least 2,000 more cops to regulate the traffic better, according to P Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner (Traffic). “Bengaluru is growing at a fast pace. With the elevated corridor and Satellite Town Ring Road projects coming up, we definitely need more people to monitor the roads. Also, road widening would be a viable option,” Harishekaran said. The department has already sent a proposal to the state government for recruiting extra manpower, and hope the team will be boosted in three months.

Traffic police personnel put the blame for the congestion on rapid urbanisation. During peak hours, it is impossible to control the traffic, a constable at Hebbal told CE, talking about how difficult it is to even catch the offenders in the heavy traffic.

Areas like Mehkri Circle, Hebbal, Tin Factory, Silk Board, Nagwara, Domlur and those near IT Parks experience more vehicle movement during the day. Also, the officials have observed an increase in the number of footpath riders, who often cite being late to work as the reason for violating the rule.

Traffic experts suggest using helicopters to catch serious offenders. “Instead of hiring extra officials, we could use other advanced methods to regulate traffic. Maybe if the traffic police department gets a helicopter that enables an aerial view, we will get a clearer picture,”  transport engineering expert M N Sreehari added.

Ashish Verma, associate professor, transportation systems engineering, Indian Institute of Science, echoed the thought. Better technology is a more efficient way to curb traffic instead of relying on people, he said. “Regulation of traffic should be put into force and better applications and technology can be used. With this amount of traffic, recording movement of vehicles using technology is more efficient,” he added.