At two in the afternoon, 65-year-old Ramesh Mundada still has four hours before he steps out of his house to manage traffic in the Nana Chowk area on Grant Road, where he stays. However, it is one of the busiest junctions in the city and as the afternoon progresses, a restless Mr. Mundada leaves earlier than usual.
“I hate traffic as much as other people do but instead of cribbing about it, I make sure I clear the roads,” Mr. Mundada said during a break from directing traffic for twenty minutes.
A vegetable retailer by profession, Mr. Mundada was one of the first to sign up for the Traffic Police Warden Scheme, introduced in 1988 by the then Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) P.S. Pasricha. The idea was to enlist the aid of local residents to manage traffic in their localities.
“In my childhood, I was a part of Road Safety Patrol, where we were taught road safety rules and regulations early on. That experience drove me to this initiative,” Mr. Mundada said.
Bantering with him while on the job, his old friend Hoshangsha Vatcha (69), a retired ticket checker with the Western Railway said, “It is a very different feeling assisting our friends from the traffic department. Every day has new challenges which we never realise from the cozy confines of our homes.”
Several of their peers have parted ways from this unique initiative over the past three decades for various reasons ranging from health issues to employment. Mr. Mundada and Mr. Vatcha , however, continue to soldier on. The ‘voluntary’ distinction is important — the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation has used paid wardens that report to the Mumbai Traffic Police.
The number of hours that the volunteers put in vary. On an ordinary day, they work for around two to three hours. On special occasions such as New Year’s Eve, Ganesh Chaturthi or Diwali, they are out at their spot for at least six hours. Mr. Mundada even recalls a few days when he has worked eight hours at a stretch, especially on visarjan days.
Reminiscing about his initial years as a traffic warden, Mr. Mundada said, “I would return home from work and start dialing numbers of the volunteers under me. No one would refuse to report for duty in those days. One call and they would assemble. Not a single penny was paid. We were selfless and dedicated.”
A disciplined training for volunteers was a must, as those were the times without traffic signals.
“Hand signals were very important back then. We were also trained in junction management, handling the movement of traffic and public interaction,” Mr. Vatcha recalled.
While voluntary wardens appear to be on the verge of extinction, there are still some trying to keep the legacy alive.
One such torchbearer is 52-year-old Yasmeen Captain, who joined as a volunteer three years ago. By day, Ms. Captain works at an Embassy Auction Centre and later reports to her assigned spot, which could be anywhere in the south Mumbai area. Ms. Captain, who rides to work on a scooter, always with a smile, is the only female volunteer in the entire South Zone.
Being a woman, she says, people respond better to her. “Clearing traffic congestions makes me feel positive about my day. I have observed that if I speak properly to people, they reciprocate,” she said.
Some 17 kilometers away, in suburban Chembur, Mukesh Rohra too is working as a warden.
The 55-year-old supervisor with Mumbai Monorail joined as a warden eleven years ago. While many of his colleagues have left, he refuses to follow in their footsteps. Instead, he wants to “help till [his] last breath”.
“This has become my hobby now. My whistle and cap travel with me wherever I go. The moment I see congestion anywhere, I don the hat and get to work. I have around 15 men working with me. If nobody responds or they are all caught up with a prior commitment, I take up the work myself,” Mr. Rohra said.
Money is not everything, he believes. “Youngsters need to understand this. Yes, it is important, but some duties should be done free of charge. It’s one thing to crib about the traffic from the comfort of your car and actually brave the heat, cold or rain to deal with it. It changes the way you look at life,” the 55-year-old said.
Lauding the dedication of the elderly wardens, Dipali Masirkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police – Traffic (Zone 1), said, “What is truly commendable about these senior citizens is that they are not letting their age come in between their passion. They are very attached to what they have been doing. There is definitely a lesson in this for the younger generation to learn from their spirit.”
