If anyone asks me what the worst job in Kathmandu is, I would say it is that of a traffic police. Traffic police on the streets of Kathmandu are doing a job similar to the mythical Sisyphus—trying to manage undisciplined drivers and pedestrians. According to the Greek myth, Sisyphus is condemned to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain, only to have it roll back down every time.
There is a proverb in Nepali—kukurko puchhar jati dhungroma rakhey pani kahiley sidha hudaina (no matter how long you try to straighten a dog’s tail, it is useless). However, traffic police never stop trying. They do their best to tackle the capital’s never ending traffic problems through several new measures and techniques. [break]
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Recently, Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) launched a campaign to punish two-wheeler users who violate traffic rules—making them stand on the street and act like traffic police until they find someone to take their place. Once they find someone, they handover their responsibilities and leave.
Earlier, there was a rampant crackdown against taxi drivers who overcharge customers by tampering with their billing meters. It did give positive results in the beginning, but it couldn’t last long as taxi drivers were against the rule. Weak state mechanism resulted in the failure of the plan. Following another Nepali proverb—Jo chor usko thulo swor (the guilty one speaks the loudest)—taxi drivers took to the streets and protested police checking, demanding the freedom to ply their taxis without meters.
There are almost a dozen sky-bridges in Kathmandu, but only a few are being used properly. When the traffic police stand near the bridge with a stick, people unwillingly use bridges, but in the absence of traffic, they don’t. Millions of rupees have been spent to build such bridges, but they are of little use.
The traffic should not be standing guard at the bridges all the time with a stick and look after people like shepherds. People should realize that those bridges are not built for the traffic’s entertainment, but for the safety of pedestrians. The traffic police even launched a campaign to make people sing and dance publicly just to make them realize that walking on the bridge was much safer than walking on the road.
There were cases when the police fined those who were smoking publicly with Rs 100 to 200. But once the campaign finished, people started smoking in public places, defying the anti-smoking act. Many years ago, in a bid to tackle road fatalities, the traffic police launched “Helmet for Pillion Rider” campaign, but it failed after protests from two-wheeler users. The plan to book drunk drivers has been successful to a measure, but there are an equally large number of people against this system.
A few days ago I noticed a rally in Kupondole. The traffic police were trying to manage vehicles. Despite their efforts, there were almost four parallel lines of vehicles on the street, causing a huge traffic jam. The traffic police deployed there were almost helpless. Such scenes happen almost every day around Kathmandu.
The vehicles are always in a hurry, as if a big storm is behind them. No one obeys traffic rules. It seems anyone driving a two wheeler, four wheeler, or six wheeler, is the king of the road. Sometimes, it takes me almost 10 minutes to cross a road as no vehicle bothers to stop to let me cross. The rules say that pedestrians should get first priority on roads, but the rules do not seem to apply in Nepal.
No one cares about zebra crossing or signs on the road, not because they are unaware of zebra crossing but because they lack road discipline. Some vehicles, including those of international organizations, are comparatively more sincere. On the other hand, pedestrians are equally responsible, as they never care about traffic lights. There are cases when pedestrians quarrel with traffic police if they are told to wait for some time.
Road discipline is the most important factor here. Neither vehicle users nor pedestrians follow traffic rules. As a result Kathmandu is becoming more chaotic and road fatalities increasing. I believe the traffic police’s efforts are in vain. It’s not that there are weaknesses in traffic police, but our unwillingness to change ourselves means that the systems they are trying to establish are not working.
The author is in-depth reporter with BBC’s Sajha Sawal
rauniyarish@gmail.com
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