Tags:
Journalism of Courage
8220;Vahatuk niyantranache niyam pala8217; Please follow traffic rules requests a polite voice emanating from the solar traffic police booth at the Alaka chowk. It is 7 p.m. on this busy road junction and impatient drivers rev up their engines as they wait for the signal to turn green. The polite voice persists, asking drivers not to encroach on the zebra-crossing. Some two-wheeler riders look at each other in surprise. Who8217;s making those courteous announcements? Meet Prabhakar Dandawate whose penchant for an orderly well-regulated traffic system sees him visiting the recently installed solar traffic booths to make announcements for the past ten days.
8220;I realised that this is the ideal way to regulate traffic and make people aware of traffic rules from one point. I have been a traffic warden for the past eight years and I believe it8217;s part of social service to do what I can to help. So some time ago I requested ACP Traffic Suresh Kamlapurkar to allow me to make announcements while the traffic cop directed traffic,8221;says Dandawate.
The announcements range from requesting drivers to stop when the signal turns red, directing two-wheelers not to take the Sambhaji bridge where they are banned to asking pedestrians to be careful while crossing the road. I have been involved in social work for the past 25 years and have been making suggestion to the traffic police department on how they could improve traffic circulation,8221; says Dandawate who recently retired from the post of statistician from the agriculture department. Just what kind of reactions have these polite requests elicited?
8220;Of course, for the first few days most people did not quite know how to react to these announcements. One couple even came up to me and said I was adding to the noise pollution. But I convinced them on how much announcements had helped to regulate traffic at the busy junction. For example, recently when there was a breakdown in the traffic signal system I helped the traffic policemen on duty to ensure a smooth flow,8221; he says.
The next time you are whizzing past the busy Alka chowk and hear polite announcements, listen to them carefully. And as Dandawate would say, 8220;Follow them. After all, its all for the safety of citizens.8221;
