Gandhigiri by Muzaffarpur traffic police: roses with advice before fines!
Muzaffarpur: according to latest reports, traffic police in Muzaffarpur has decided to launch a week long Gandhigiri campaign in the town. As part of an awareness drive that is to carry on for a week, the traffic police will gift a violator a rose flower, but only after delivering a brief speech on traffic rules. This is the brainwave of the Muzaffarpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajesh Kumar.
This bold drive puts an end to a common myth – that only metropolises and bigger cities in India have a traffic congestion problem. The fact is that the smaller towns like Siwan and Muzaffarpur routinely produce traffic snarls that Mumbai and Bangalore may feel envious of, if congestion were to be a measure of the bigness of a city. The additional problem with towns in Bihar is that traffic rules exist only as an idea, and movement on the road has to be negotiated purely on the basis of opportunity and space, with considerable help from horns of different pitches and capacities. The horns in fact along with eye contact create a constant ‘conversation’ on the roads that allow people to move ahead.
In Muzaffarpur the plan is to have eight bike-borne traffic constables who will persuade people to follow traffic rules through words and flowers. Reports mention that home guards, NCC cadets and employees of a cellphone service provider have been trained to aware people of the traffic guidelines. These personnel will be deployed at Hari Sabha Chowk, Kalyani, Imlichatti, Saraiyaganj and Aghoriya Bazaar Chowk.
However, the flower-gifting will come to an end after a week, which is when fines would be imposed on those flouting traffic rules. Riders without helmets will be fined on the spot and cars parked wrongly may be seized or face a fine. In brief, first comes the carrot and then the stick.