Desperate time calls for desperate measures, this seems to be guiding Ranchi police. After caustic remarks by Jharkhand High Court on traffic conditions, the traffic department put the constabulary on its toes to bring about a change in on-road etiquettes of Ranchiites. With its back to the wall police decided to launch a massive initiative with the support of all stakeholders to convert law breakers into law abiders and ensure orderly traffic within the city. The drive will start from May 8 and will end on May 16.
The traffic awareness and education drive named ‘Parivartan’ aims to convey the necessity of following laws and its positive effects on the lives of people thus converting the process of transformation into a continuous motion. The programme is in nascent stages as the police began today took the first initiative by holding consultations with all the stakeholders of a city’s traffic.
“Traffic is not smooth here and we know this. Traffic becomes smooth whenever a drive is conducted. So, if we wish traffic improves and it is possible to improve traffic. We need to continue the process of improvement and this is the objective of this movement,” said SSP Ranchi, Prabhat Kumar.
The programme will be conducted for ten days and it will touch three aspects of traffic—engineering, education and enforcement—throughout the duration. The drive which is claimed by police to be first of its kind for Ranchi will begin with the unveiling of a logo designed specifically for the movement followed by launch of the mission where objectives and goals will be read out and is likely to culminate with an oath taking ceremony for general public to solicit support in the ambitious plan to address problems of traffic rule violations. The collaborative effort will be monitored and evaluated at later stage to ascertain achievements.
“It is a movement to transform people’s mindset. Piecemeal approaches did not bring good results earlier. So, this time we will collect data to find out empirical evidence of the impact of the drive,” said SP-Traffic, Karthik S. The plan to mend on-road behaviour includes bringing school children on-board for promoting traffic sense through street plays and other interactive activities, propagating IVR (Interactive Voice Response) messages, jingles on radio probably in the voice of children appealing to their parents to wear safety gear before driving, informative conclaves by small groups for auto-drivers and other stakeholders of public transport system, rolling out vehicles (coined message-on-wheels) to disseminate information regarding traffic rules through participative activities like quizzes.
Meanwhile, a slew of measures are also on cards to improve travelling experiences of a common man. The measures include ARMAR (Accident Relief and Medical Assistance), highway patrol which is likely to begin in the second week of May, SMS drive to share information regarding traffic movements and obstructions, legal awareness and other measures that could bring changes in the attitude.
