Lit-up nights

Red you stop,green you move. Traffic constable Kumar finds himself giving lessons in traffic basics as Srinagar gets its first traffic lights in 40 years

On Wednesday,as an elderly man in a Maruti tries to drive through Jehangir Chowk,Srinagars busiest square,traffic constable B J Kumar stops him and points to the traffic lights. They had turned red. The man looks perplexed. Since when had this panel of colours appeared? The light turns to green but he doesnt move. That prompts a volley of honking and the man panics. So Kumar waves him aside and patiently explainsred is to stop,green you move.

Srinagar got its first traffic lights in 40 years earlier this month. The lights,installed at five busy intersections in the city,have been a success,say the Jamp;K Police,and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation is planning to put up another 31 traffic signals to cover most part of the city. Traffic lights were first installed in Srinagar in the 1960s. But they soon became defunct because of frequent power shutdowns. This time,however,the government has installed five traffic signals in the city on a pilot basis.

Kumar goes back to the small raised platform thats his work station at Jehangir Chowk,an intersection of six busy roads in the city centre. The platform is without a shade to protect him or his colleagues from the spring rains,the heat of the summer or the winter snow. Kumar stands here all day,directing vehicles or booking violators. These days he has an extra dutystep down from the platform and explain to people about traffic lights.

People will take some time to understand this change, he says. We have been told to go easy on errant drivers till they get used to the lights. We dont book them the first few times. But if we notice people who violate rules deliberately,we book them, says Kumar.

Kumar,42,joined the Jamp;K police 12 years ago. It was only a year ago that he was transferred to the traffic department. He starts his day early at Srinagars Traffic Lane,a name given to a small area in Srinagars District Police Lines where barracks for the traffic cops have been erected. After a quick shower and breakfast,Kumar is out for work in his navy blue trousers,a royal-blue shirt and a police cap. He doesnt forget to pick his white-and-green mask along pollution is high, he says.

By seven in the morning,when the city has just stirred itself from sleep,Kumar takes his position on the little platform at Jehangir Chowk. By the time I finish my 14-hour shift,I am completely exhausted. I only want to sleep.

But the traffic signals,says Kumar,have made his life easier. Before the traffic lights were put up,we had to do a lot of physical work. We had to direct the traffic,get on to the road to stop vehicles and even chase down the violators, he says. With the lights,we have to be alert but we intervene only if drivers are violating rules or if someone needs our help.

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The lights,he says,have brought about discipline on the roads and have even proved to be a bit of a leveller. Earlier,Kumar says,VIP movement meant complete chaos. All other vehicles had to be physically stopped to let a politician,bureaucrat,police officer or an army vehicle pass. That way,hundreds of vehicles had to be stopped and that would later trigger a traffic mess, he says. But with the lights,there is a general understanding that everyone has to stop,even the VIPs.

Kumar says Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has led by example. On several occasions,while moving from his Gupkar residence to Srinagars civil secretariat,Omars cavalcade has stopped at the Jehangir Chowk traffic light.

Kumar is always accompanied by four to five colleagues at the chowk. We take turns to man the traffic. But even then,we have to keep standing all day, he says. The only time we get to sit is when we take breaks for tea or lunch.

Its 9 p.m. and Kumars 14-hour shift has come to an end. This is a routine he follows seven days a week,without a break. As the traffic on Jehangir Chowk thins down,Kumar starts his half-a-kilometre walk back to his barrack. Itll be 10 p.m. by the time I get there, he says. I can barely eat my food before I go off to sleep.

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His job,Kumar says,gives him little time to visit his family in Jammu,some 400 km away. The distance from his children,he says,is what makes his job tougher. After a hard days work,when you meet your children,you feel relaxed, he says. But when I return to the barrack,the loneliness hits me.