Young Shashi from a government school in Srinagar was forthright. “We don’t know why we have been brought here.” When it was pointed out that it was for appreciating the policeman’s work, he immediately recalled his recent visit to the Traffic Management Centre in Ashok Nagar.
“On the big screens, we were shown how the traffic is managed. We have been explained about the importance of using the zebra crossings to cross the road. We do follow it while crossing the roads on the Srinagar Road and the Bull Temple Road,” he said.
Shashi, who studies in Class 8, was one of the many students who had assembled at the office of the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) in Shivajinagar for the fifth Traffic Police Day celebration. The function, organised by the Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA), saw the participation of students from B.M. School in Sivanchetty Garden, Prasiddhi School, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, St. Joseph’s Indian High School and the Army Public School.
The event started with students Supriya and Aashish reading out a poem on “Police Anna”. They had sweet words on the tireless work of the traffic policemen in ensuring the safety and security of motorists and pedestrians. They shook hands with the few constables and senior police officials, including Additional Commissioner of Police Praveen Sood and presented them with Thank You cards.
Vrunda Rao Bhaskar, CMCA Managing Trustee, said the organisation had been holding the event since 2005 to commend the efforts of the traffic policemen who usually put in 18-hour days. During the week, children will be going to the traffic police stations and traffic junctions and distribute the Thank You cards. Police constables will be invited to school assembly and felicitated.
Acknowledging the CMCA’s efforts, Mr. Sood asked the people to treat traffic policemen as normal human beings. “Don’t blame us when the traffic is moving slow. There are 100 reasons for it. The Metro Rail work is on, the roads are narrow and there are potholes,” he said.
