Addressing civic indiscipline in
Jaipur needs education & enforcement
DNA, January 12, 2015
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By Pradeep S Mehta
Need of the hour Being chairman
of the city’s Traffic Control Board, Jaipur development
commissioner needs to address traffic and civic indiscipline
with equal zeal and enthusiasm
Jaipur continues to take baby
steps to achieve its dream of becoming a world class city,
but a change in our mindsets is a precursor to its
realisation, which is not the government’s responsibility
alone.
That said, the Jaipur Development Commissioner, Shikhar
Agarwal is blazing new trails inter alia by doing things
which need to be done. Firstly, he has achieved a financial
surplus for the JDA, which has been in the red for long.
Second, he is clearing encroachments in the shape of
worshipping places on public roads in spite of misguided
public sentiments. But, it must not end here. More needs to
be done. Our city roads are one of the best in the country
and timely repairs help them to keep motorable. Being
chairman of the city’s Traffic Control Board he needs to
address traffic and civic indiscipline with equal vigour.
The other day, my friend Jagdeep Singh narrated his woes on
Facebook of dropping his daughter to the railway station at
5.30am to catch the train to Delhi. The approach to the
station was absolutely chaotic and he got caught in a
traffic snarl. His daughter had to walk and ultimately run
to catch a moving train. Jagdeep took longer time to unsnarl
himself and head back home. There was no constable in sight
that day to regulate traffic. I wonder, therefore, whether
having a police commissionerate in Jaipur has had any
significant impact on traffic regulation or even crime
prevention in city. Zilch, in my opinion. But it is once
again not the police which are alone to blame.
To be fair to the police and civic authorities, some
innovative steps have been taken to ease traffic flow. Two
examples come to my mind: Blocking off one access to one
main road on both the station crossing and Sahkar Bhavan
crossing. If these were not done, the traffic snarls would
have been worse. However, one gross drawback in this is
enabling pedestrians to cross the road easily, which still
needs some work.
The city is quite pedestrian unfriendly and this needs
closer attention. On many signals, pedestrians when trying
to cross the street have to dodge the onslaught of
relentless traffic. Our cars and two wheelers zip across
traffic lights when red as if they have a God-granted right
to do so. Two wheelers ride in a suicidal fashion and many a
times they end up hitting cars and other vehicle. I am quite
sure it is as difficult to find a single vehicle in city
without dents and scratches as it is to retrieve a needle
from a haystack.
Most vehicle owners do not know even the basic traffic
rules, such as stopping and going while turning into an
arterial road from a side road, or even respecting zebra
crossings. Arcing on a turn is absolutely alien to them.
Driving on full beam and blowing their horns incessantly is
insanely pleasing to them.
Our road safety scenario is the worst in the world, which
costs us over three percent of our GDP every year. As part
of the government’s exercise to develop a National Road
Safety Policy, I had chaired the Union Ministry of Road
Transport’s Working Group on Road Safety Education two years
ago. We did come to a considered conclusion that both
education and enforcement have to go hand in hand. Few years
ago, in New Delhi constables greeted motorists with flowers
and beseeched them to observe road rules. With the result
accidents in Delhi have been coming down every year.
Similarly, in Udaipur and Srinagar just after the New Year
began, constables handed out toffees to drivers who were
wearing a helmet or seat belts.
Speaking about civic sense, Bombay is perhaps the best
possible city in our country. Though due to sheer population
pressure some of the good old things are disappearing. The
story goes that when the late Morarji Desai was the chief
minister of Bombay presidency, before the same was split
into Maharastra and Gujarat, he posted two police constables
on every bus stop to ensure that passengers queued up. It
was one small step but had a singular impact on people being
conscious of discipline and civic sense.
I recall one instance in Mumbai when my taxi got into the
right turn lane at a traffic light, the duty constable
ensured that my taxi could not drive straight on the main
road but had to turn right and then come back to the main
road after some time. If such a thing happens in Jaipur, the
driver will engage into a long debate with the constable and
hold up the entire traffic. Consequently, the helpless
constable will just allow him to carry on.
Worse violations take place insouciantly on our road
network, many of them due to ignorance. It is not only my
experience but several of friends have pointed out that if
you try to point out bad driving to another, s/he will turn
around to argue that you are wrong. Metaphorically, ulta
chor kotwal ko dante.
Another act of civic indiscipline is defacement of our road
signage. There is a law against defacement, which includes a
liability of the poster owner, but enforcement is nil.
Usually, the posters are stuck on enamelled road signs by
companies and student unions during election campaigns, and
they cannot be washed off or cleaned easily.
In the ultimate analysis, it is we the citizens of this
beautiful city who have to take up the cudgels of dealing
with indiscipline through education and enforcement, and ask
the authorities to cooperate.
The writer is secretary general,
CUTS International. Views expressed are his own
This news can
also be viewed at: http://epaper.dnaindia.com/
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