Three-month deadline for traffic cops to clear gridlock in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: With traffic gridlocks increasing and vehicles slowing down across the city over the past few weeks, the government is all set to roll out a new set of measures to address the issues.
While civil police personnel will be told to lend a hand to traffic police during peak hours, surveillance of major traffic junctions by drone cameras has also been planned.

Home minister G Parameshwara, who set a three-month deadline Friday for police to clear traffic congestion, said: "Bengaluru has been infamous for its traffic congestion, this has to change. Around 10 personnel from each police station should be deployed on traffic duty during peak hours every morning and evening."
The current strength of traffic police force in the city is around 10,300 personnel, with 300 posts lying vacant.
While the number of vehicles in the city has crossed the one-crore mark, average speed, according to independent traffic monitoring organisations, has reduced to less than 18 kmph. Though the minister's suggestion to press civil cops into service appears practical, it is the implementation part where the challenge lies, given that there is no incentive for these personel to stand on the roads.
The minister, though, warned the cops to focus on managing traffic flow rather than stopping motorists merely to collect fines on the spot. If any traffic congestion complaints are raised by the public, the jurisdictional deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners will be held responsible, he warned.
Parameshwara said drone cameras will be deployed to monitor traffic at junctions. They will be provided as part of Safe City Project. The project, which was started in 2017-18 with funds of Rs 667 crore, aims to instal around 7,000 high-resolution cameras. Police have already installed 75 per cent, with the remaining 2,700 cameras set to be installed soon, the minister said.
"The cameras will be monitored by the command centre at the police commissioner's office. Viewing centres will also be set up at all city police stations. We have 111 police stations in the city, with 80 already having the facility. The rest will get viewing centres at the earliest," he added.