More than 30 Traffic Police officers and constables gathered at the Traffic Management Centre for a memorable event, “Traffic Police Day”, organised by children’s movement for civic awareness.
This event marked the 10th annual celebration of this special day where the children of the city thank Bengaluru’s unsung heroes, the Traffic Police for the terrific work they do.
Thank You cards were presented to all the policemen present and will also be distributed to the entire traffic police force. World Billiards and Snooker Champion, Pankaj Advani was present to celebrate the occasion along with B Dayananda, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic and M N Reddi, Commissioner of Police.
Addressing the police officers and 50 children from various schools across Bangalore, “A lot of good work is being done by the Traffic Police Department and I thank you for the hard work you have done to keep our city safe and on the move. It is a pleasure to see young citizens come forward and recognise the Traffic Police and what they do for us.” said M N Reddi, Commissioner of Police. Reddi was the one who flagged off the first Traffic Police Day ten years back as the Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic.
Dayananda, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, said, “In this fast paced life rarely do citizens pause for a moment to recognise the significant work that our Traffic Police do. It is heartening to see our children thank the Traffic Police Department and appreciate the work that our policemen do. I commend CMCA for pioneering this idea a decade ago and instilling these values in our young.” Bengaluru’s rise as the IT hub for the country has contributed to the rising population in the city and with it an astronomical increase in the number of vehicles and pedestrians in the city.
With around 50 lakh smoke spewing vehicles plying on the roads, several million pedestrians, poor road etiquette coupled with a tearing hurry, adverse road and pavement conditions, managing traffic has become a challenge for the less than 3000 traffic police constables and officers. They are doing an admirable job despite all the constraints and yet remain unsung heroes.
CMCA’s “Traffic Police Day” campaign is an annual event to sensitize children and adults to the challenges of traffic management and to acknowledge the contribution of the traffic police towards the safety of the general public. As part of this campaign about 5000 CMCA children from 89 member schools, over the next month, will visit police stations and manned junctions near their schools to meet the traffic police and present them with a thank you card. In some cases, traffic police constables will be invited to their school assembly during which they will be felicitated. This simple gesture of gratitude by children has been much appreciated by the traffic policemen over the years. In turn, by interacting with the traffic police, children learn to empathize with them and also imbibe greater respect for both the policemen and for traffic rules and road safety.
